


RWBY Ascension

by The_Marksman



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 11:43:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 182,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4875580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Marksman/pseuds/The_Marksman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wears a grey cloak, her left arm is metal, and here she is attending Beacon Academy. Follow her through her trials at Beacon Academy and beyond. Rated M for future violence and sexual content. FMA:B inspired, but with a lot of inspiration from everywhere. This is a cross post from FF.net, and I will not be correcting all of the formatting errors that arise from the transfer between the two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day at Beacon

Author's Note: This is my first fic, and yes, I know this first chapter is short. Hear me out, I'll explain after the chapter.

You would think someone could only take so much before giving up.

I can tell you that if someone has a mission, a drive, then they won't give up until that mission is finished.

I know I was that way, but the mission I gave myself can never be complete. I sought to be able to save everyone, keep all innocence safe, and in the end survive.

That mission changed after only one day at Beacon, it changed to include something so valuable, the life of Ruby Rose.

"I can't believe I let Ozpin talk me into this." I said to myself, pushing my hair out of my eye to look out of the airship window at Beacon Academy.

"I wouldn't have put becoming a huntress on the top ten things I'd want to be when I grew up."

"Though the title will allow me to help so many others, and keep them from having to go through what I did." A grimace crossing my face at the memory.

Someone yelling "Eww! Yang, gross you have puke on your shoe!" Snaps me out of that memory.

I look over to see the source of the odd outcry and see a girl, who couldn't be old enough to attend Beacon( and that's saying something from someone coming attending a year early.)

Black hair dyed red at the tips, silver eyes, and what looked like a weapon strapped to her back.

"I have to know how someone that young got into Beacon." I said to myself.

I didn't have to wait long for the girl to demonstrate her prowess, it took her less than a minute to explode, literally.

"Unbelieveable, this was the kind of thing that I was talking about!" A white-haired girl cried.

Wait, white hair, a large amount of dust, and the emblem on most of the cases, that must be Weiss.

Wow, she's definitely grown since we last met, I really hope she doesn't recognize me. It's been nine years, maybe she forgot my voice at least. My hood should keep my face covered.

"I said I was sorry princess!" The red haired girl cried, Weiss stood there for a moment speechless.

Wow, that girl really is skilled, she managed to get Weiss speechless with a simple sentence.

"It's heiress actually," A new arrival spoke.

She had long black hair, amber eyes, and a quite cute looking bow on her head.

"Not my type, unfortunately." I said to myself

Oh no! I let my biggest secret slip, I'm gay. I'm so forward aren't I?

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellent in the world..."

"Finally some recognition." Weiss replied

"The same company infamous for it's controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The black haired girl said with a smirk.

"The nerve!" Weiss says while pridefully striding away.

Oh my god! There is no way I'm not dreaming, Weiss Schnee being rendered speechless twice in under 5 minutes that has to be a new record.

But enough of taking in the competition, Ozpin said he wanted to speak with me as soon as I arrived.

I won't lie Beacon is much prettier in person, I'd seen photos before, but nothing really compared to the actual thing.

I made my way to Ozpin's office only to find a note stating the headmaster would be preparing for his speech.

"Only Uncle Oz would forget that he was the one who asked for a meeting."

No, just to clarify, Ozpin is not actually my uncle, he was a friend to the family.

"Now he's a friend to me, which is all that's left of my family." I said to myself through gritted teeth.

"I should really get to the induction ceremony, I really don't want to miss the speech that made Ozpin forget about me."

It didn't take me long to find my way there, the mass of people inside was enormous.

I worked my way to a spot to stand, and noticed that girl from before, arguing with a girl with long blonde hair…

Wait, I know her from somewhere, that's it! She's the one who destroyed Junior's club a while back.

All I wanted was a drink, and a bartender who didn't ask why a 16 year old needed a drink.

Junior's club just happened to fit both qualifications.

"I wonder if she saw me that night, if so that may mean there's another person would recognize me."

"So, how's your first day goin' little sister?" Blonde asked the red head

Hold on, these two are sisters? I wouldn't have thought that from first glance.

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

I tuned out the rest of the conversation when I started to think about my own little sister, would I have been like that after everything? Would I leave her for even a second if I saw her again?

All these question surrounding me, making me almost positive I was going to pass out and relapse then and there.

Ozpin's voice breaks through my haze, snapping out of it,

"I'll make this brief, you have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But, I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin concluded.

That did not seem right, something is definitely off if that's the speech Ozpin missed our reunion for.

But, knowing Oz, he's probably got the council breathing down his neck, or something secretive like that.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready, you're dismissed." Goodwitch states

It seems Goodwitch is still tagging along with Ozpin after all these years, but then again I would follow Ozpin too, if I was in love with him.

I could see the tension between them when I was ten years old, and I guess that would be the last time I saw Goodwitch, at my father's funeral.

I went ahead and laid out in my sleeping bag, and tried to listen around just to see what I could hear with how sound bounced in the ballroom.

"My name is Ruby," I hear clear as day, and I recognize the voice it's the red head from earlier "So, what's your name?" Her(I can only assume) older sister asks the black haired girl. "Blake" she replies, "Well Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister."

Good, so I still got my touch when it comes to figuring out the simple stuff.

"At least I know some names now, maybe I'll get on a team with one of them, so at least I won't have to start from the beginning."

Something gave me the feeling that wasn't going to happen, I could still hope, at least it would give me something to think about tonight when I would wake up from my nightmares.

I guess I should explain, especially with that comment about my dad's funeral earlier, I suppose I'll start from the beginning…

A/N: So, this is going up quite late for me. Ordinarily, I will have stuff uploaded by around noon EST, but my ISP decided that I would have to wait for the speed that I paid for. A story will be updated guaranteed once a week; however, I may post more if I get more done. This includes another story going up soon called "Bumblebees and White Roses". Tell me what you think, reviews are always appreciated. Marksman out.

A/N(6/12/15): I was informed of several grammatical errors throughout the text and have gone back through to fix the ones I could see.


	2. Mom's Funeral

I was born just after my mother had retired from being a huntress, and my father had resigned his commission as the general of the Atlesian military.

I was born two years after my brother, and around 9 months before my sister.

We lived in a house that sat atop the Atlesian mountains, where the winters were cold, but the summers were quite warm.

Even when I was little, I was fascinated by the stories about my dad's time in the military.

Every time one of his friends stopped by, I'd make them tell me more about it.

His nickname was "The Iron Wall", as there were no successful attacks on Atlas while my father was general.

He was also a brilliant alchemist.

An art somewhat forgotten by most, my father often used alchemy in his fights, much to his opponent's peril.

Of course, my father never bragged about his alchemy or talked about his time in the military, he would always tell me stories of my mom and her time as a huntress.

He told me she once took down a fifty beowolves with only a camping knife on a dare.

I asked her if he was telling the truth, she said no because "It was more like one hundred, but your father never likes when I beat him in a dare."

I learned later from Ozpin that my mom and dad were on a team together at Beacon.

"I'll never know why your father chose to go into the military after Beacon after showing so much potential as a huntsman." He said while looking over at my father.

I was five when I finally asked him why he didn't become a huntsman.

"It's a long story, one I'll tell you when you're ready." He said, not expecting that time to come soon.

Unfortunately for us all, it did less than a year later, on my sixth birthday.

It was a warm summer day, and my mom wanted to know what kind of birthday cake I wanted.

"I want a plain cake, but I want to put some strawberries on it. You know, the fresh ones from that patch down the mountain?"

"Yes, I know the ones, tell your father we're going and grab a basket to put them in." She told me with a smile, the last time I'd see her smile for a long time.

We traveled down to the base of the mountain and started picking berries, only we had come down quite late, and it was beginning to get dark.

"Honey, we need to head back now." My mom called.

"Just one minute, I just want to get enough for all of us." I replied.

The first howl split the silence, and suddenly beowolves began to pour out of the forest that sat just by the field.

I turned to run only to be tripped on a vine, I turn to see them closing in on me, the first one starting to swing.

But the hit never came, my mother had pulled the small knife she was using to remove the berries and stabbed the first in the chest.

"Run! Go get your father!" She yelled while holding the wolves at bay.

I ran as fast as I could, reached the top of mountain, and yelled for my father.

By the time we returned to the field, all that was left was my mother's cloak, almost completely covered in blood.

I cried in my room for a week, holding the cloak to my chest, dried blood and all.

My father came in and told me to get dressed, in the time I had been in my room, my father had organized a funeral for my mother.

The number of people at the funeral was enormous, around 400 people showed up.

The strangest part is all of them knew her, some were people she'd saved on hunts, others were fellow huntsmen and huntresses.

I looked over at my siblings, my brother completely stone faced, his eyes showing the sorrow he felt.

My sister sat there, her cheeks stained from crying, leaving her looking more defeated than either of us did.

I don't remember much of what was said, I spend most of my time trying to comfort my little sister, but I do remember what Ozpin said.

"I cannot change the fate of Mrs. Grey, but I will help to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. This event has caused me to accept the position of Headmaster at Beacon Academy, and to take up a leadership role within the Association of Hunters and Huntresses. I hope to make great strides in the removal of the creatures of Grimm from this world, and in the end, to finish the mission Mrs. Grey started." Ozpin explained.

Some clapped, some were shocked Ozpin would make such an announcement during the funeral, but I sat there in awe of Ozpin.

From that moment onward, I knew I wanted to train and become a huntress, and finish what my mother had started.

The day after the funeral I asked my father to train me in alchemy and combat.

"You are too young for me to place that burden on you, I won't do it."

I kept asking for a full month before he realized that the only way I would be satisfied is if he trained me.

When he finally agreed to train me, my father asked what weapon he should make for me.

"I don't want a new weapon to be forged for me, I want to use mom's swords." I said pointing up at the mantle piece.

The swords had been placed there upon my mother's retirement, and had not gathered a bit of dust under her care.

"Those blades are too heavy for you;however, I can see you're determined, so I won't stop you."

After that I trained for a whole year, never stopping or slowing down, not even for a day.

My father was beyond impressed with my progress, "You've managed to master in a year what took me three, you've still got a ways to go, so let's get to it."

My alarm clock I brought with me started to go off, looks like we'll have to finish this story another time.

I sat up in a haze, only to realize that there was no one left in the ballroom.

"Where is everyone?" I thought sleepily to myself.

"Again all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation…" I hear, snapping me to attention.

Oh Crap! I'm going to miss initiation!

I grabbed my gear and began to run out of Beacon, towards the cliff, ready to show everyone what the girl in a grey cloak can do.

A/N(My Author's Notes will always be quite long sorry): Sorry for the upload yesterday. Meant to post an update, accidentally posted an unfinished version of this chapter. The update being that the release of "Bumblebees and White Roses" will be delayed, in exchange for an early chapter of Ascension. But I did what I said I would, the character's last name has been revealed. The rest will come in time, and if you spot a reference, tell me. I want to see how many you guys can find.(Some are blatantly obvious, so I will be disappointed if you don't find them.) Don't be afraid to tell me what you think, reviews are always appreciated. Marksman out. (P.S check out Shadow Nightblade over on FF, he inspired me to start writing with his fanfic, The Snow Fox's Struggle.)


	3. Initiation Or Not?

I rushed towards Beacon Cliff to stop in shock, the students had already been launched!

I ran to see Ozpin and Goodwitch watching the students as almost all of them landed in Forever Fall(minus Vomit Boy of course, as he didn't really land, more speared to a tree.)

"I'm sorry I was late Ozpin, I'll go down right away!" I said running past.

"You won't be participating in the initiation, considering I missed our meeting yesterday, I thought now would be a good a time as any to make it up." Ozpin said grabbing my cloak as I ran past.

"What? Then how will I be assigned to a partner? A team?"

"I have no doubt in my mind you are an accomplished warrior to the point where being in a team of students in combat would just slow you down."

"As such, I made the class an odd number in order to have an odd man out, you."

"This will allow you to teach any team you see fit to learn more advanced techniques, and with luck, it will improve your social skills."

"Are you saying that I have bad people skills?"

"Well, considering you didn't talk with anyone on your first day here, forgive me for making that assumption."

"Wait, how would you know that I didn't talk to anyone?"

"I had someone watching you, to make sure you arrived safely."

"I can't believe you sometimes. And I don't want to be cut off from others Oz, I'm just worried I'll lose control and hurt someone."

"It's understandable after everything you've been through, but please try as hard as you can not to lose control." He said putting his hand on my shoulder

"I never said I would lose control, but the chance of it happening is always there."

"So, getting off that topic, how have you been? It's been a year since I last heard from you."

"I've been doing some work cleaning up Grimm outside of Atlas and Vale."

"Nothing major though, no one wants a 16 year old girl without official training taking out their Grimm."

"I'm assuming that's why you accepted my offer to come to Beacon so quickly?"

"Of course, but I'll be honest with you Oz, that wasn't my only reason."

"Oh?"

"I wanted to be able to have a more active role in my brother and sister's cases."

"I'm sorry, but you're related to them, the Association would never allow you on the case."

"I'm assuming they are worried about what will happen when you find them."

"I know, but I at least want updates."

"That I can provide you, as in this moment, you are their only confirmed living relative."

"Any updates?"

"Not really, the last confirmed sighting of your sister was fleeing from the building you three were held captive in. And they haven't even found a trace of your brother."

"Seriously, three years and they haven't been able to find a trace?"

"In fairness, we were only able to find you because you came to us."

"I can't believe that the Association is so incompetent, is there anything else I should know?"

"They did finally sort through the wreckage of that building, and they have confirmed your brother's body wasn't present."

"Ok, so there is a chance he is alive?"

"A chance, but nothing definate."

"And my sister wasn't injured when she was fleeing right? So she might be alive as well?"

"Yes, but again, no guarantees."

"On a much lighter note, I think you should watch your fellow students in action, maybe there will be a team that could beat you 4 on 1." He said with a smirk

"I don't think that will happen Oz, unless Nikos gets a really good team."

"You've seen her fight?"

"Seen her?, ha, I've fought her before. As I recall, I tied with her in finals after she used her semblance on my arm."

"When did that happen?"

"I might have been on the competitive circuit about six months ago, I was the only person that got even close to beating her."

"You were holding back I assume?"

"Always, people would get suspicious if they saw how I usually fight."

"Just watch, I think you'll be impressed with one in particular."

"You mean Ruby? The girl that beat me out for youngest person accepted to Beacon?"

"Her skills are certainly impressive for someone her age, granted that she didn't train everyday for four years."

I "trained" for much more than that, but I'm still not sure who I could trust with that information.

"I'll be the judge of that."

I looked over Ozpin's shoulder at the scroll in his hands to see Ruby walking along on her own.

I can tell she's determined to find someone, I would guess her sister.

"Yang!" she cried

Man, I'm good at this.

Wait, she's quite close to Weiss, oh no, I can see where this is going.

She locks eyes with Weiss, only to have her turn and walk away.

"Wait, where are you going? We're supposed to be teammates." She called after her.

The look on Weiss's face was priceless, "Hey Oz, can you do me a favor and take a screenshot of Miss Schnee?"

"Unfortunately for you Miss Grey, I'm your headmaster before I'm your uncle, and as your headmaster I will not grant such a childish request." He said sternly

I frowned and pulled down my hood to give him puppy dog eyes.

"However, if such an image were to be taken, you might find it on your school issued scroll when you receive it." He said with a grin

"Thanks, you're the best Uncle Oz!"

I went back to watching the students at work only to hear Goodwitch whisper to Ozpin,

"You spoil her way to much, if she wants to excel, she must be more mature and independent."

"She can be mature when she wants to be, and I'll give her anything if it keeps her happy."

"It was her father's final request for me, and I failed her and her siblings when they were kidnapped, so it is the least I can do for her now."

"I just wish she wasn't as much of a brat."

"I heard that." Finally breaking into the conversation

"How did you…?" Goodwitch looked shocked at my being able to hear her.

"My little secret." I stated

Looking back, I saw that all the partners had been paired up, Blake and Yang, Ruby and Weiss, Nikos and Vomit Boy.

I didn't pick up any names for the rest, but I think I know the partners I'm going to be keeping an eye out for.

"Looks like they made it to the temple, Ruby in style on a Nevermore of course." I said to myself

I'll admit, I was fascinated by her, she had some serious skill.

Maybe she'll be the one I could teach…

No, she would have had to go through a rough experience as a child in order for that to work.

She looks really familiar though, I wonder...

"Hey Oz, what's Ruby's last name?"

"It's Rose, why do you ask?"

"I think I remember my father showing an old yearbook from his days at Beacon, and there was someone by the name of Summer Rose that looked a lot like Ruby, was she her mother?"

"Yes, but she went missing in action after a mission years ago."

So she lost her mother too, then she may be a perfect choice.

I can still remember her mother smiling in that photo, but I also remember seeing her more recently.

That couldn't be right though if she died years ago, so where was this coming from?

I was instantly struck with an insane headache, with flashbacks to that night coming to me.

I curled up into a ball, crying as the images seared the insides of my skull.

"Sierra, please show me a sign you're still conscious." Ozpin managed to get through the pain.

I nodded my head and sat up slowly blinking the tears out of my eyes, Ozpin and Goodwitch standing over me, looking concerned.

It wasn't the headache that brought tears to my eyes, the memories caused the real pain.

"Are you okay?" Ozpin and Goodwitch both asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a small relapse." I replied.

"Have they been happening more often?" Ozpin said, coming close after signaling Goodwitch to back away.

"No, less actually, but they still always happen if I think about that night in detail."

"You still haven't told me exactly what happened that night, I won't press you for the details now, but one of these days I'd like to know."

"Trust me, I'll tell you when I'm ready Oz, you can count on it."

"Ozpin, you may want to see this, the nevermore Miss Rose was riding earlier has engaged the students." Goodwitch interrupted

I looked back to the scroll to see all the students in various positions around the temple, and Ruby rushing to engage a Deathstalker.

She slams her scythe against the Deathstalker, only to be thrown back from the recoil of hitting such strong armor.

She turns and starts to run back towards the group, only to be pinned by a nevermore feather to her cloak.

"Ruby!" Yang cried

"Ozpin, should I assist?" I asked

"No, they need to find their way through this without the help of someone experienced, and yes, that does include you."

I look back expecting the worst, only to see a wall of ice holding the Deathstalker's tail.

"You are so childish, and dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." (A/N: And don't even get me started about your grammar.) Weiss scolds.

"And I suppose I can be a bit… difficult, but if we're going to do this," Weiss continued, "we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off, I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine."

I turn back to Ozpin to see him smirking at me.

"You act like you knew she'd be fine." I said

"Who said I didn't? I was confident in the abilities of my students."

"Can I go kill what they leave behind? I haven't gotten to fight a Nevermore in a long time."

"We'll see if they don't manage to take it out."

"You would be willing to face a Nevermore in combat alone?" Goodwitch said with a shocked expression

"Of course, I've taken one down without my weapons on me, but I did use alchemy though."

"Again, we'll wait to see if they can handle it on their own first."

I didn't have to wait long, Vomit Boy and co. managed to take down the Deathstalker, while the others engaged the Nevermore.

I see Blake and Yang from what looked to be a giant slingshot, and my suspicions were confirmed once Ruby jumped and was pulled backwards by one of Weiss's glyphs.

She flys at the Nevermore with incredible speed, pinning it against the cliff face.

She fires her rifle, gaining speed while running up Weiss's glyphs, to decapitate the Nevermore.

She stands with her cloak and rose petals flowing in the wind behind her.

"I can tell you're impressed Miss Grey, so am I correct in saying she might be receiving training from you?"

"She will, but her partner might not be so lucky."

"Schnee will need a serious attitude check before I train her."

"Especially if she reacts badly to you making Ruby leader."

"What makes you think Ruby will become leader?"

"Because I'm asking you to make her leader and I know you're just as impressed with her anyway."

"You aren't wrong Miss Grey, and your request will be taken into account."

"Ozpin, please just call me Sierra, this Miss Grey nonsense has gone on long enough."

"I thought you would prefer Angel, but I'm assuming that reminds you of your mother?"

"I thought being named after her was a blessing, when she died it became my biggest curse, so I guess that's why I prefer my middle name."

"The students will be arriving soon, I don't want any of them to meet you until the team forming ceremony tonight."

"Not that I question the order, but any particular reason?"

"I don't want questions raised about your prosthetic, just a little odd to see someone with a metal arm."

"It's called automail, and I'll stay out of sight, I'm quite good at that."

I made my way to the auditorium, and hid myself in the top levels of the rigging.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL. Led by Cardin Winchester."

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc."

"I can't say I saw that one coming, Vomit Boy as leader, but Ozpin knows what he's doing."

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by Ruby Rose."

A smile crossed my face when I saw Weiss looked shocked that she wasn't made leader.

"In addition to these teams, we will have a solo student, she is here to learn as well as teach. She can choose any team she wishes to train in advanced combat techniques."

"If she's so good, why isn't she here?" I heard Cardin snicker.

In the time I had been sitting in the rafters, I had transmuted a small transmitter and microphone.

"Just because you are too close minded to see me Winchester, does not mean I am not here." I say to the entire auditorium.

I drop from my perch in the rafters on to the stage, my cloak flowing around me.

"I was personally asked by Headmaster Ozpin to attend Beacon Academy not only as a student, but as a teacher."

"I accepted his offer on the condition that I am not required to teach every student."

"If I deem you fit to learn under me, then I will teach you to the best of my ability. If not so, it is within my right to refuse to teach you."

"I have already seen most of you at work, and have seen some candidates for the program."

"Tomorrow, I will decide which team will be first to train under me. I look forward to this year and the next 3. Thank you."

I walked off that stage feeling confident about what tomorrow would bring.

That I'd officially get to meet the youngest person to attend Beacon, the girl that intrigues me to no end, Ruby Rose.

A/N: So this chapter is twice(nearly 3 times) as long as the previous chapters, the reasons being... One, I wanted to get the whole of initiation into one chapter. Two, I will be away this weekend, which *may* delay the next chapter and will definitely postpone the release of BB and WRs(Sorry, I'll get it out soon White Rose and BB fans). Again, I haven't revealed the character's full name, I have given her middle and last names, but most could guess her first name. She will be revealing what she looks like and her full name to Beacon in the next chapter. Thanks so much to those who have reviewed so far, and for those who haven't, don't be afraid to do so. They will always be appreciated and help me to know where you guys want to see this story go. Shoutout this week goes to mikotyzini over on FF, another great author who inspired me. And I'll be doing a shoutout to some of my favorite writers every week *until I run out*:). Thanks a lot for reading, Marksman Out.


	4. From Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy chapter four!

 

 

* * *

 

I woke up the next morning in the dorm room I had been assigned.

I was alone, which is great for me(and others) considering I'm not a very sound sleeper.

The nightmares have always been bad, and at one point I nearly stabbed my older brother with my swords upon waking up.

I quickly unpacked what little I had brought with me to Beacon, and put around some of the family photos that I had managed to get away from the ruins of my old home.

I jumped in for a quick shower before breakfast,"I honestly forgot how warm water felt." Quickly taking note of the sensation, "It's been a long time since taking a warm shower was even a possibility."

I got out and looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in a long time.

My grey eyes stared back at me, the most notable feature I had gained from my father.

My hair was naturally(and currently) brown, though I could change that at any moment.

Precise aura control was one of the skills my father taught me while I was training under him.

He taught me how to use my aura to change my hair and eye color at will.

It is surprisingly simple, you just change the color of your aura in that specific region.

Though, if I feel an emotion strong enough, it influences the colors.

When out in public, I usually go for a bright red color, but when I'm alone or with someone I trust, I let it go back to its normal brown hue.

I haven't changed my eye color since he taught me the technique, I let it remain the same to remind me of him.

I got dressed, hoping to make it to breakfast as quickly as possible.

I threw my cloak over my clothes, its dark grey fabric rippling behind me.

I stepped out into the hallway, to be practically run over by the entirety of Team RWBY rushing to their classes.

"Sorry!" Ruby yelled back.

I don't have to attend classes if I don't want to, I already passed all the exams to leave Beacon, but I think I'll attend most classes just to study up on the students.

The AHH (Association of Hunters and Huntresses) requires that each student have a certain number of completed missions and combat training hours before being able to graduate the academy, and I don't have those which means I can't just graduate straight off.

"I guess I'll eat breakfast then head to Goodwitch's class to announce the first team I will be training."

I went to breakfast and found a seat next to Team JNPR.

Nora and Ren said they were going to take a walk around before Goodwitch's class and left.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met, I'm Pyrrha and this is Jaune."

"I'm sorry I can't tell you my name, Ozpin has asked I withhold my name from other students until Goodwitch's class today."

"Why did he ask you to do that?" Jaune questioned

"I'll be honest, I don't know, but Ozpin wouldn't have asked me to do it if he didn't have a good reason." I replied

"Can you at least take off your cloak?" Pyrrha asked

I flinched at the question, really I wore the cloak for two reasons.

The first is that it was my mother's cloak and it reminded me of her.

The second was to cover up my automail, a metal arm isn't exactly normal(It's also really hard to get through airport security.)

"It was my mother's, I won't let myself forget her and the sacrifice she made for me, so I don't take it off if I can help it." I said a bit of sorrow leaking into my voice

"I'm sorry for bringing up such a sensitive topic."

"Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known."

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you both, and it will be nice once I don't have to hold my name."

"We'll see you in Goodwitch's class then." Jaune stated

"Looking forward to it."

I'm glad there are people like that, they were nice without even knowing my name.

I walked into Goodwitch's class to find her waiting at the front of the classroom for me.

"Miss Grey…" Goodwitch started

"I swear I'm about to lose my mind if you guys keep calling me Miss Grey, just call me Sierra, I'm just as much a teacher as I'm a student. Give me that much respect."

"Ok then, Sierra, have you chosen a team for training?"

"Right now, there are three people I've got my eyes on, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, and Ruby Rose.

"However, I don't want to train Weiss if she is still angry about Ruby's appointment as leader."

"Port told me she came to him about the subject, so unless she has apologized for her words to Ruby, I have no intention of training her."

"I'll ask her when she arrives, just be ready for your announcement."

Weiss arrives before most of the other students, Goodwitch asks her, she sends a short nod in my direction.

"Good, so I'm training the whole team I guess." I say to myself.

The rest of the students began to arrive, what remained of Team RWBY being some of the first to arrive, and CRDL being one of the last.

"Ok students, I would like to allow the advanced combat instructor to reintroduce herself, Miss Grey if you will."

"Hello my name is…" I started

"Before you continue," Cardin interrupted,"I want to know why someone like you is being allowed to teach."

"Someone like me?"

"Yes, why are children like you and Red over there allowed into Beacon early?"

I see Yang stand up looking ready for a fight, I raise my hand.

"That won't be necessary Xiao Long."

"The reason we're allowed here because we both could probably beat your team's asses without breaking a sweat."

The entire room goes silent.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Cardin snapped.

"I just said that me and Red could individually kick your teams asses."

"You know what, I'll take you up on that, the 4 of us versus you."

"I'm completely fine with that, if you would be so kind as to set that up Goodwitch."

The stage was set, Cardin and his team were prepared with their weapons.

"Miss Grey, where are your weapons?" Goodwitch asked

I glared at her under my hood for calling me Miss Grey,

"I don't need to use them that would be a waste."

"Oh you little bitch…" Cardin growled.

3..2..1

The match begins…

I blinked behind Sky and got off a strong hit to the back of his head, he fell like a rock.

Russel tried to take a hit at me, I dodged underneath his blow, and connected a strong hit to his ribs.

I could feel his ribs shatter from the force.

Dove tried to come at me from behind only to find me behind him, he spins to block, but my punch still connected and he went down.

Cardin decided to use that as an opening to attack, he swung down with full force.

I didn't even blink away this time, I caught his mace with my automail.

I crushed it in it's entirety, leaving Cardin with a stick with a clump of metal at the end.

He fell to his knees looking what remained of his weapon, and Professor Goodwitch called the match.

The rest of the class looked shocked, the match had lasted under a minute, and my hood wasn't even pushed down.

"Professor Goodwitch!" Weiss called

"Yes Miss Schnee?"

"I would like to face Miss Grey in combat."

I could tell from her face that she was about to say no, but again I held up my hand.

"If she is that confident in her abilities, then I am willing to face her."

Weiss walked down looking as confident as ever, she takes her stance.

"I would use my weapon if I was you." She said with a smirk

"Well, I'm not you, so it's not a problem."

Our match begins, she cast a glyph the size of the arena.

I try to blink, only to find that I couldn't.

"You aren't so tough without your teleporting semblance?" she said with a grin

"Neat trick, but I think you should have waited for a bit more info." I said

Using Ruby's semblance, I ran behind Weiss and used the stun dart in my hand to take her down.

The entire class gasped as they saw Weiss and the grey rose petals hit the floor.

"Weiss!" Ruby said, the rest of Team RWBY came to her side.

"This concludes the match." Goodwitch said

"NO!" Ruby said

"If Cardin was allowed to have his team with him, then Weiss should be allowed the same right."

"Miss Rose…"

"She's right Goodwitch, though I don't think Weiss would be as accepting of your help if she was awake." I comment.

"It doesn't matter we're her team, and we need to help each other."

"Ok, are all three of you three determined to see this through?"

"Yep." Yang agreed.

"Only if you agree not to hold back…" Blake said.

"YOU WERE HOLDING BACK!?" Cardin screamed.

"Unfortunately Miss Belladonna, I put those limits in for the protection of those I fight, and will certainly not drop them against allies."

I square off and stare down this group, their eyes burning with fury.

"START!"

I drop a smoke bomb from my belt, blinding all three, or so I thought…

I get ready to go on the attack, only to have to block a blow from the left from Blake.

"That's impossible unless…. she's a faunus!"

"That explains the bow, but it makes this fight a lot harder."

"Or it makes it a lot easier, since she's trying to keep it hidden."

I clap my hands and transmute a blade on my hand in order to meet Blake.

I get our blades in a lock and whisper to her,

"Nice work, but you've revealed your secret to me, so if you want to keep it secret you are going to have to play dead here."

I meet her eyes and try to convey that I know exactly how she feels, and I think she understands though I couldn't really tell.

She falls to the ground, I hit just close enough to her to reduce her aura to the red.

I transmute a gust of air to clear the smoke, Ruby and Yang turn to see Blake on the ground.

"She did better than most, I'll give her that."

Ruby practically growled at me, "I want to know one thing before I come at you with everything I have, what is your name?"

"I'll do you one better.." I said pulling off my cloak, my red hair flowing behind me, grey eyes with a gleam, and my automail left arm.

"My name is Angel Sierra Grey, daughter of former Atlesian general Jonathan Grey and my mother Angel Grey."

Weiss had been sitting off to the side after she regained consciousness, and her jaw dropped.

"Sierra, what happened to you?" she asked.

I turned to answer only to be met with the angry face of Yang Xiao Long.

"You'll have time to catch up with her later, but right now, I have a partner to avenge."

She throws a punch, I catch it with my automail and returned it with a hard hit from my right.

I jump into a backflip causing Ruby to slam into Yang full force with her scythe.

"Sorry." Ruby called out

She takes a swing only for me to catch it in hand and hold it in place.

"This has gone on long enough, I don't want to hurt either of you." I tell her

"Well tough, you messed with Team RWBY, now we're ready to call you on it, Yang now!"

She reverses her scythe to pin my automail and Yang(using the energy she's been building up) hits me directly in the joint of my automail.

My vision flashes to that night, my arm being taken from me again.

"No one touches my ARM!" I bellow, sounding so unlike myself.

Without even meaning to, I unleashed one of the most powerful semblances I had picked up, Nightmare.

They both fall to the ground, clutching their heads.

"No,No,No I have to stop…"

But I couldn't, as hard as I tried, I couldn't.

Part of me wanted to hurt them and it was in control.

"You aren't in control anymore Sierra, I am." Shadow said, switching our eye color to blood red.

"No, stop, they're my friends!"

"I don't care, they hurt us!"

"Mom…" Ruby cried out.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I yelled.

My aura instantly drops into the red, I fall to the ground, barely conscious.

"I'm sorry…" I said passing out.

* * *

 

I woke up a while later in the infirmary of Beacon.

Ozpin was standing over in the corner of my room, waiting for me to wake up.

"Hey Oz, how's it going?"

"Sierra, I thought you said that you had it under control." He said sounding disappointed.

"Ozpin, I did, no one has ever tried to remove my automail like that, and in a normal fight that semblance could be the correct reaction."

"I'm not saying I don't regret what I did, I want to apologize to both of them for what I put them through."

"Well, you're in luck then, the entirety of Team RWBY is outside waiting on you to wake up."

Why would they all come? I thought Blake wouldn't show, but then they showed an incredible bond as a team.

"Would you mind letting them in when you go?"

"Of course I wouldn't mind."

The whole of Team RWBY gathered around my bed, all their faces lacking expression.

"So, who wants to talk with me first?"

Ruby walks up to me and slaps me.

"I was kind of expecting that, I deserved it, I shouldn't have lost control like I did."

"You didn't really deserve it, it wasn't your fault, Ozpin told us about your MPD*."

"Me and Ruby have forgiven you for what happened, but I just have one question, what is your semblance?" Yang asked.

"My semblance is the ability is copy other semblances, I used Ruby's semblance to beat Weiss in our fight."

"Really? Any semblance you have seen used you can replicate?" Blake said

"Yep, watch this." I generated a small version of one of Weiss's glyphs in my hand.

Weiss stepped in front of me looking concerned,

"Sierra, what exactly happened since I last saw you?"

"You act like 10 years is a short period of time Weiss. A lot can happen in that time."

"Like what?"

I considered spilling my guts right then and there, but I couldn't bring myself to tell them how I lost my arm.

"Like my father being killed in front of my eyes…"

Team RWBY's eyes widened.

"That was six years ago, and I still haven't managed to figure out who did it and why."

In fairness, I've only had two years to look, but that's a story for another time.

"Weiss, so much more has happened since then, but I just can't share those memories with anyone."

"Do those include where you got that?" Ruby asked pointing to my arm.

"Yes, and can you do me a favor? I need a wrench to take my arm off in order to go to bed, I have one in my room, but the doctors want me to stay here."

"I'll get it, back in a flash." Ruby said running off

"Weiss, Yang, do you mind leaving the room for a minute? I want to talk to Sierra alone." Blake asked

"Sure, but Sierra…" Weiss looks me in the eyes "if you are ever ready to talk about it, please don't keep it to yourself."

"When I'm ready, I'll be sure to let you know."

They step out, leaving me and Blake alone.

"How did you figure it out so quickly?" She asked

"No human could hear well enough to fight blind, that combined with your bow kind of gave it away, also, I know what it is like to hide who you are."

"Wait, are you a…"

"I won't answer that, what do you think?"

"Well, you seem to have your back constantly facing away from us or covered, and you look quite uncomfortable lying on your back."

"So that said, I'd assume that you are hiding your trait there."

"Well done, most of the teachers don't know about it, but it took you seeing me in a hospital bed for a couple minutes to get it. You're very perceptive Blake."

"Thank you, and you keep my secret, I keep yours?"

"I think that's a fair trade, and coming from an alchemist that means a lot."

She walks out letting Ruby to walk in with my wrench.

"Thank you for doing that for me."

"No problem, but just how exactly does your arm work?"

"So you're a tinkerer huh? I'm the same way, but it isn't as complicated as it looks."

I show her the inner working of my arm and she sees the cylinder that lies at it's core.

"What is that?"

"Grenade launcher, I guess that means I'm always armed." I said with a grin.

She smiled and laughed, "That was really bad I hope you know."

"Then why did you laugh?"

"Because it was definitely better than some of Yang's puns."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"So Ruby, as leader of Team RWBY, I would like to offer to teach your team. Do you accept?"

"Of course, I'm sure the rest of the team would agree after you nearly beat two teams on your own without even pulling your weapons."

She got up to leave, but turned back to look at me.

"You said your dad was killed in front of you, what about your mom?"

"She was killed by Beowolves while she was trying to save me. All because I wanted those strawberries."

"You can't blame yourself for that, it doesn't help, trust me I'm speaking from experience."

"How did your mom die?"

"She went on a mission to take out a Grimm nest with another team, the nest was much larger than they had expected, she held them back to allow her teammates to get out." She said almost tearing up

"We'll avenge them both ok? That's something we have in common, we want to rid this world of Grimm."

"Yep, but isn't that why we came here?"

"I'll be honest with you Ruby, that wasn't my only reason."

She looked at me, urging me to continue.

"My older brother and younger sister have been missing for the past three years, and I thought I might be able to help with their cases if I became a huntress."

"Seems like you have gotten the short end of the stick on a lot of things."

"I wouldn't disagree with you there, so on a lighter note, I want your team to meet me just outside Forever Fall tomorrow morning."

"I'll get it cleared with Ozpin, so you better be on time."

"I won't let you down." She said giving me a salute

I watched her go, wondering if I could ever reveal how I feel about her, or if she would return the feelings once I told her.

That will have to wait, I have to make sure she's ready to face the Grimm or anything else that would come her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep reading, makes you smarter, Marksman Out.


	5. Roses Are Red

The nightmares hit particularly hard that night.

As you can probably guess, Shadow is my alternate personality, and as you saw, he isn't the nicest one of the bunch when he wants to "protect" me.

I woke in a cold sweat, and just couldn't bring myself to go back to sleep.

I slipped into my memories again, back to how I got my arm.

* * *

I walked into my father's study.

The room was lined with bookshelves, a small desk sat in between some of the shelves.

I wanted to try to get him to give me some extra training for the day.

He wasn't there, but I had always wanted to know what all the books in his study were about.

I caught sight of a book titled "Advanced Transmutations" that was slightly pulled out of the shelf.

I grabbed it and started reading…

"Human Transmutation?" I said to myself

The script was vague, to the point where I would have to do some major research just to be able to attempt it.

But it did say is that, if the transmutation was performed correctly, then it would bring a person back from the dead.

It allow said that no attempts prior had been successful, and that failure would be costly.

"I'm assuming that's why father didn't tell me about it, but if there is any chance of getting her back, I have to do it."

"Her death was my fault, and I have to fix my mistakes."

The next year was spent researching in secret, filling in the gaps in my knowledge, and gathering the materials required for the transmutation.

On the the second anniversary of my mother's death, my eighth birthday, I was finally ready to attempt the transmutation.

I cleared out a small area in the basement, just large enough to draw the transmutation circle.

Everything was ready, all I had to do was touch the circle…

"I'm going to bring you back Mom, I know I can do it."

I pressed my palms flat against the chalk lines on the floor.

The circle began to glow and give off black smoke.

"This isn't right…"

I wouldn't even get to finish that thought, as shortly thereafter, I was broken down by the portal I had opened as the result of my transmutation.

I could feel every piece of myself being broken down by the portal.

Then I felt my senses come back to me, and I was standing in front of a large set of doors inscribed with various alchemical symbols.

The rest of the room was white, nothing else seemed to be in here, but then I looked across to see another door except it didn't have any of the alchemy symbols on it.

"Hello young alchemist." A voice said

I turned to see a white figure surrounded by a black aura, no eyes, ears, just a mouth.

"What are you?"

"What am I? I'm glad you asked, some people call me God, some call me the universe, I am all, I am truth, that also means I am you."

"You have knocked on the door, now let us see what answered."

I look back to see the door behind me opening, a large eye at its center.

Hundred of spider-like arms start to pour out and grab me, pulling me back into the depths.

"Stop, please!"

"You asked for this child."

I look at the figure only to see someone had appeared behind him.

A woman in a white cloak with a red inner lining,

"What? How is someone else here?"

The doors are pulled shut as I pass through, the darkness engulfing me.

I saw everything, it was like all the knowledge in the world was pouring into my brain at once.

"Stop, make it stop!"

It was too much, I couldn't take it.

Then I saw the figure of the woman standing over me, "Who are you?"

She said nothing, but she handed me a rose as I was thrown out of the portal.

"Well done child you survived."

I turned back towards the door, "If this is everything in the universe then there must be the secret to human transmutation in here, you have to show me again."

"I cannot, I have shown you all I can for the toll you have payed."

"Toll, what toll?"

"Why this?" The truth said holding up his left arm

I saw my arm slowly disintegrate and reappear in place of his.

"I'll be seeing you again, young alchemist."

I slowly opened my eyes, expecting it all to be a horrible dream.

Then I saw it, a living corpse that was slowly breathing, it looked nothing like my mother.

"Mom…?"

It reached out towards me and then its arm fell as it died.

"No, this isn't what I wanted."

I looked down to see the left side of my shirt soaked with my own blood.

I started crying, not because of my arm, but because I had failed.

My father heard me crying a while later and came down into the basement.

He weaved his way through the dusty boxes and saw what I had done, or what I had tried to do.

He saw me sitting in a pool of my own blood, crying, looking at the corpse I had created.

He carried me upstairs and laid me on the couch in our living room.

He stitched up my shoulder, I felt really tired and asked if I could sleep.

"Yes, just make sure you wake up, we've got a lot to talk about."

* * *

My alarm clock brings me back to reality, I sit up realizing where I had seen Ruby's mom before.

"She was in the portal when I tried to bring my mom back, but why and how?"

I would have to figure that out later, now was the time to make sure that Ruby wouldn't be in that place anytime soon.

I got ready quite quickly and ran to get a bite to eat before I said I would meet RWBY.

I walked into the cafeteria to see Team CRDL gathered around a faunus girl, Brown hair, rabbit ears, Velvet I think her name was.

Being CRDL, they decided that pulling on her ears was a nice thing to do.

"Really, are they gluttons for punishment?" I said to myself.

I walked behind Cardin and tapped him on the shoulder, he spins around, ready to yell at whoever touched him.

I didn't give him that chance, I socked him right in the face with my normal arm, he flew back on his table getting covered head to toe in food in the process.

"You mess with anyone at this school Cardin, you'll answer to me. Got it?"

He stands up, trying to retain what little pride he had left, and leaves the cafeteria.

"Need a hand?" I ask Velvet, who had remained cowering on the floor throughout the duration of the exchange.

She nods as she accepts my hand, "Thank you. I owe you one." She whispers in a quiet voice.

"I'm just happy to show jerks like Cardin their place."

"It didn't matter I was a faunus?"

"No, but if you'll let me, I'll show you why and get that debt you owe me paid."

I sent RWBY a quick text saying something had come up, then I took Velvet to Goodwitch's classroom, which was dark and empty this early.

"Velvet, you will be the first person at Beacon I've shown this to, and I would appreciate it if it stayed between us."

She nods, I start to take off my jacket…

"Wow! I didn't think you'd ask for anything like that!"

"No Velvet! Nothing like that, wow, now that I think about it that really seems like what I was trying to do huh?"

She is blushing furiously, trying to regain her composure for what she herself had insinuated.

"So, what were you trying to show me?"

I finish taking off my jacket and she sees the large number of bandages wrapped around my torso.

"What…"

I take them off to reveal my bra and my wings…

I cover up my chest from Velvet and unfold my wings to their full length, and sigh, as it is the first time I have unfurled them since coming to Beacon.

There were also a large amount of scars from… well, I think that's a story for another time.(That's becoming my catchphrase isn't it?)

"That's why you didn't mind helping me? Because you're a faunus too?"

"Yep, and I hope you understand why I have to keep it under wraps."

"I didn't know there could be bat faunus."

"Exactly, as of right now, I am the only confirmed living bat faunus on Remnant."

"If my sister was found, then there would be two, but that's it."

"It makes us targets for bigots like Cardin to hunt down, so they can have the pleasure of being able to wipe out a whole type of fanus."

I fold my wings back up against my back again, and begin to wrap the bandages back around myself.

Velvet helps me with tying them, she takes her time and looks to be having trouble restraining herself from fondling me.

"You aren't in heat by any chance, are you?" I asked

She turns a shade of red that could rival Ruby's cloak, "I might be, sorry if I was being that obvious about you know…"

"It was a bit obvious, you didn't even object to the implication of "it" earlier, so you're a lesbian?"

"No, I just was thinking about grabbing your chest because I'm straight." She said giving me a flat stare.

"I guess I kind of should have assumed that."

"I want to know, do you have to deal with heat?"

"No, bat faunus don't have to, but I have to deal with something that could be much more embarrassing."

"What could be… you know what, I don't need to know."

"Thanks for that, I think that is a secret I will take to the grave." I said.

I waved goodbye to Velvet, and started on my way to Forever Fall.

Fall had come to Vale quite early this year, the leaves were already falling, and the golden brown hue of the leaves stood out against the grass.

I thought it was quite odd that the leaves went from red to brown, but then again, evergreens were all I ever saw growing up in Atlas.

"Greetings!" I say to the group.

"Thanks for finally showing up! We've been here for the past hour!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I'm sorry for keeping the princess waiting, protecting the innocent kind of comes first in my book."

Weiss started to speak, but I raise my hand, "I'm sorry for wasting time and I don't want to continue to waste more, so let's get started."

"I want all of you to try and change your hair color."

"WHAT!" The four exclaimed.

"It is one of the simplest forms of precise aura control, actually, have any of you had aura training?"

"Nothing special." Blake said.

"Not really." Yang replied.

"I guess not." Ruby said.

"I...might not have." Weiss squeaked.

"Ok then, we'll have to start from the very basics then."

"I want you to sit and try to meditate, you need to be able to manifest your aura at will."

They all sit and begin to try manifesting their auras.

I can feel them trying, each of them with a look of concentration on their face.

A good half hour passes before I finally speak, "This isn't good, you all have something blocking your auras from properly manifesting."

"But I've manifested my aura before." Ruby said.

"Yes, but I'm assuming it was only during a fight right?"

"In order to train with it, you have to be able to do it at will. Watch."

Without even thinking, I switched my hair color to match Weiss's.

"All I'm doing is switching the color of my aura around my hair."

"That's so cool!" Yang said.

"Could you do that on a larger scale?" Blake asked

"I know what you're thinking, and yes."

I changed my aura to blend with the tree that I was standing in front of, you couldn't even see my outline against the bark.

"That's even cooler!" Yang exclaimed.

"This is just the basics, the advanced stuff is creating stairs, platforms, even elevators using just your aura."

"Really? That sounds really cool!" Ruby says, practically jumping up and down.

"Well, first we have to get past whatever is blocking all of you from properly manifesting your auras."

"That's something we'll have to do individual training to fix, so I'll start with Yang tomorrow and you three can go back to regular classes for the time being."

"You really can't train us any further until we we've resolved this?" Weiss questioned.

"Nope." I said, slightly popping the p.

"What about that thing you do with your hands?" Ruby asked.

"I don't think I'll be teaching any of you alchemy."

"Why not?"

"When I was first taught alchemy, I thought it could be used to solve all my problems and right all my wrongs.

"Looking at it that way is dangerous, it very easily could have cost me my life, but I was lucky and it only cost me my arm."

"Me avoiding teaching you prevents you from suffering any kind of loss."

Blake doesn't look convinced, "If you say so." Ruby pouts.

"Yang, where do you think it will be best to become in tune your aura?"

"Is it bad if I say the gym?"

"No, just where ever you would feel the most, yourself, I guess."

"The gym it is then!"

"I think I'll go get some lunch, you guys coming with me?" Ruby said.

"I don't have anything better to do." Weiss said

"I'll come too." Yang said

"I'll catch up to you guys, I want to talk to Sierra for a minute." Blake said.

I watched the three walk back towards Beacon, and Blake turning to face me.

"What is your actual reason for not wanting to teach Ruby alchemy? I saw it in your eyes, it's just her isn't it?"

"You see straight through me, but you're not wrong."

"I have nightmares every night about things I've done in the past, as a result I don't sleep that much."

"Last night, I started thinking about the transmutation that took my arm.

"The result of the transmutation was me between life and death, but I saw Ruby's mom there."

"I don't want her to chase after the possibilities like I did."

"That and you don't want your crush to get hurt." She said grinning

"Am I really that easy to read?" I said with a slight blush.

"No, I just happen to see your hair change color to pink when you said her name in your sleep in the hospital, but I wasn't positive it meant anything until you just told me."

I had just been played.

"Well played Belladonna, well played, so, you don't have a problem with lesbians then?" I said, setting my trap.

"Nope." She said, popping the p in a very similar fashion to the way I had earlier.

"Is there any reason for that?" I said, ready to take my revenge.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm kind of in the room next to yours and my hearing is quite good as a faunus, so hearing you moaning Yang's name is a pretty good indicator that you have a reason."

She instantly blushes.

"Love at first sight then?" I said with a smirk.

"I didn't believe that the world was like a fairy tale, but then I met Yang and I threw that out the window."

"I'm assuming you don't want Yang to know yet?"

"You keep my secret, I keep yours?" She says cracking a smile.

"We seem to be doing this a lot, but sure."

We started the walk back to Beacon, both of us realizing that we had just made a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for reading, Marksman Out.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up in a black room, no clear walls, no clear ceiling.

"Where am I?" I thought.

"Where am I?" echoed through the room.

"You're in your mind, I called you here." Shadow said, appearing beside me.

"I don't have anything to say to you."

"I know you didn't like my use of Nightmare on the sisters, but they were going to rip your arm off."

"And I would have asked for it, it would be on me, not them."

"Then what? We don't have time to be out of commission, the whole reason we came here was to get Ozpin to spill the beans about your brother and sister's cases."

"That wasn't the whole reason and you know it!"

"I just want to help you and for some reason you don't want me to!"

"All you've ever done is hurt people, and try to take me over."

"I've only done that when you needed help."

"Then, why did you take over during my fight with RWBY?"

"Even if they had taken off my arm, I could have taken them down without a problem."

"The only reason I lost was because I had to fight you to gain back control."

"It wasn't my intention to take over…"

"Bullshit! Do you not remember what you said to me as it was happening?"

"I'm a different person when I fight."

"Exactly, you don't have control over who you are, and you're my alternate personality!"

"Maybe if you help me fix it, like I asked, then we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Sort your own shit out! I had to!"

"Even so, the process would go much faster if you were to help me."

I sigh, "You know what? I'll think about it and when I can trust you again, we'll see."

"I thank you for the second chance."

"You better not waste it, because you're not getting another one."

I sat up in my bed, "That was interesting to say the least, that's the first time he has come to talk with me directly."

"What could that mean?" I asked myself.

I sat there for a while thinking about the implications of Shadow talking to me face to face.

I tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how hard I tried I simply couldn't.

I guess I'll keep going with my past.

* * *

I woke up to find my father sitting in the chair next to me reading.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"It's around six in the morning, but you've been asleep for over 24 hours." He replies.

"Are you mad?" I ask like any 8 year old would.

"No, I should have figured out what you were up to, and stopped you before you had the chance to attempt it."

"I will no longer be teaching you alchemy..."

"But…"

"Because you seem to learn it better on your own, you managed to attempt human transmutation within a year of learning of its existence, so I'll let you have to the reins when it comes to your alchemy training." He said looking slightly proud.

"Ok, but are you still teaching me combat?"

"Yes, and as soon as we get you an arm, we'll be starting with finding out your semblance."

"Get me an arm?"

"Well, I'm going to make you one."

"Ok…" I said skeptically.

He sat me down in his work shed, and started to take various measurements.

"I'm going to be using some burn dust to completely seal your wound, it is going to sting ok?"

I nod and he starts to apply the dust.

It hurt, but it was nothing in comparison to the night before.

"I'm going to need you to come over to this table and lay still alright?"

I walked over, I laid flat on my wings and thought about something…

"How long will it take for me to recover?"

"Normally, it would take around three years for you to get fully adjusted, but I have some dust that should speed up the process."

"You should be able to go back to training within the month."

I look out the window towards our house, seeing the lights on gave me another thought.

"Another thing, did you tell them what I did?"

"No, but they did see you missing an arm and want to know what happened."

"I'll tell brother, but Kurome doesn't need that burden."

"So what are you going to tell her?"

"I'll tell her I went out late and got attacked by a Beowolf, anything but the truth." I said, slightly flinching when I said the word truth.

"I'm going to start now, so try and relax as much as possible."

The next several hours were a blur of bloodied tools and metal parts being tossed around.

"And finished." he said.

I sat up and instantly felt the weight of my new arm, it wasn't bad, just very different from what I was used to.

I looked it over, it fit me just perfectly, and I couldn't wait to see what my father had built into it.

"Anything special?"

"Well, flick your wrist down."

I do it and my hand flips down to reveal the grenade launcher at the core of the mechanisms.

"You go overboard on everything."

"Yes, I do, but you won't be able to move your fingers when it is flipped down like that."

I lock my hand back into place and ask, "Can you get me something to draw a transmutation circle with? I want to put something on this."

"Ok, I'll be right back." He said walking out towards our house.

I looked at my hand and the thought occurred to me to just make a transmutation circle with my hands.

"Let's see if this works!" I said clapping my hands.

I touch my hand to my arm and watch as the transmutation engraves a set of wings crossed over on each other into the metal.

My father walked in and saw the engraving.

"How did you…" He said, jaw officially dropped.

"I don't know, I just thought, "Can't I just make the circle with my palms?""

"It must be as a result of you going through the portal."

"My body has become the matrix, and I form the circle with my palms." I said, understanding dawning on me.

"This could be incredible for you using alchemy in combat, try making a blade from your arm."

I clap and extend the metal, forming a blade the width of my hand.

"Neat." I say.

"Definately practical, but it's going to be a bit before you can use that."

"I can't wait!" I say smiling.

"Well, time for some dinner, and it's your night to pick."

"Yay!"

* * *

"Those were the days." I said to myself.

"Oh well, no use pondering on them now." I said turning back over, and thinking about how early I have to get up tomorrow.

* * *

"It's the time I usually do my workout." Yang said.

"Seriously? Five in the morning?" I asked.

"She's always done that, ever since she started training at Signal, or was it before that?" Ruby asked.

"It started at Signal, that was when I realized I needed to workout to keep my figure." She said showing off said figure. (I swear I could see Blake drool.)

"I guess I can respect that."

"You don't workout? How do you keep that figure?"

I blushed slightly at the comment, "I don't really know, but I haven't worked out in a long time."

"Seriously? How did you stay in shape for Beacon?" Blake asked.

I wanted to give her the actual answer, but I didn't think I had the guts to face those consequences just yet.

"I mean, I did hunt Grimm, but not very many, people didn't like the idea of a 16 year old girl taking on hordes of Grimm on her own." Trying to find an acceptable cover.

"I guess that explains it." Yang said.

"So, gym, 5 am?"

"That works."

* * *

We said that two days ago, apparently all the teachers decided to have all their tests on the same day, so Yang was required to be there yesterday.

I was right to worry about the time though, I woke up late and had to throw on some gym shorts and a shirt.

I was worried about my wings showing, but the bandages seem to cover them quite well.

I make my way to the gym, weaving through empty classrooms trying to get there as fast as I could, trying to avoid being late.

"Good, you managed to pull yourself out of bed at this hour." Yang quipped upon my arrival.

"Hey, I need my beauty sleep."

"I won't deny that it works, those shorts look good on you."

I blush bright red, "Are you flirting with me Yang?"

"No, I just have an appreciation of the human form."

"Just an elegant way of saying you're a pervert right?"

"Maybe…"

"Anyway, let's get started on your workout, since you issued me that challenge."

"Get ready for hell!" She cried, bouncing up and down from her built up energy.

We went for laps around Beacon, did enough push ups to where I lost count, and benched-pressed more weight than most would be able to believe. (I beat Yang by five pounds, I don't think she'll ever live that one down.)

"That's it?" I say, barely out of breath.

"There..is..no..way..you..don't..work..out." Yang said wheezing.

"I don't work out Yang, I just have a much bigger lung capacity than you from living in the mountains all my life." I say, the actual reason being much more unpleasant.

"That's cheating."

"It doesn't matter now, you ready to do this?"

"I guess so."

I sit down and gesture for her to sit across from me.

"We are going to dive into your mind and see what exactly is blocking your aura."

"Is going through my memories really necessary?"

"The other option is waiting until you figure it out on your own, which even for some of the most talented, can take upwards of ten years."

"I don't have time to wait to train you, so it's this or you're out."

"Ok then, if it has to be done."

"Let's start then."

"I want you start trying to manifest your aura, and then I'll use the semblance on you, sound good?"

"Ok."

She starts concentrating and I trigger the semblance.

* * *

We appear in a small room. The walls are a light pink color, and a small cradle is set to one side of the room.

"This is my room!" She said.

"Your room looks like this?"

"No, but it did when I was little."

"I don't remember the cradle though."

"You may not know you remember it, but it's still in your mind somewhere; otherwise, we couldn't be here."

"This is where the blockage starts, so I guess we just have to wait for the memory to progress."

We didn't have to wait long, a woman the same height as Yang walks in. She wore a cloak, and her face was covered by a mask.

"I have sight beyond this world…" she whispered to the blonde haired baby in the cradle, "I have seen what will come to pass and in order to prevent it, I must leave you Yang."

"I'm sorry, and I hope that one day I will be able to explain everything to you in person, but for now this message will have to do."

"I don't know how you will receive it, but I know it will get to you somehow. Goodbye, my daughter." She says walking from the room.

I turn to look at Yang, only to see her on her knees, crying.

"She..didn't..want..to..leave." She said through her tears.

"Yang, I need you to pull it together until we are done, crying has to wait."

"Ok, for my mom."

The memory faded as a new scene began to form.

It looked like a middle school, a bunch of students milling around the courtyard eating their lunches.

I see a younger version of Yang was sitting next to some other students when a guy walks up to their table.

I could tell he was the "cool" guy, his clothes and little group of pricks wreaked with that vibe.

"What do you want Mark?" Yang asked, in her classical fashion.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the movies with me this weekend?"

"For the last time Mark, I'm not interested."

"Then maybe you'll be interested in this…" He says pulling out a wad of Lien.

"Still not going with you, nothing will make me go with you."

"Are you sure? Not even this?" He pulls a red cloak from his bag.

I see her eye flicker to red, but quickly return to normal.

"That better not be what I think it is."

"I had a friend of mine pick it off some trash…"

He didn't even get to finish that sentence as Yang completely fell into her rage, her eye went fully red and flames engulfed her.

I could tell underneath her rage she was terrified, but she went all out on Mark.

By the time Yang had calmed down, you could tell Mark wasn't going to known for his looks ever again.

Yang took the cloak from Mark and walked out of the building, not looking back.

I turn to Yang, "This was the first time you used your semblance right?"

"Yes, and I never went back there, I asked my dad to be signed up for Signal later that night, after I'd found Ruby and made sure she was okay."

"I didn't realize how much power I had until that day, and it helped me see that I was wasting my potential."

"They had apparently just gone by her locker and taken it while she was in class, if they had touched her… then I would have gone back and ended Mark."

"I hope you don't mean that Yang."

"I don't think I could ever really mean that."

"I hope that you will never have to mean that."

"You have?"

I didn't reply, she got the message.

"Why?"

"What would you do if someone had Ruby and said if you didn't do what they she would be killed?"

She looked at me with an odd expression, "You have siblings?"

"Yes, I told Ruby when I was in the hospital, but one of the reasons I'm here is because my older brother and younger sister have been missing for the past three years."

"We were held captive in a facility for the three years before that, so I have no idea if they're even still alive."

"But your captors made you…"

"We were sent on assassination missions, but only one or two of us."

"They said if we disobeyed or failed, then the ones left at the facility would be killed."

I turned and faced Yang, "I want you to promise to tell no one about this, I haven't even told Ozpin about what exactly happened after our kidnapping, so just know that I trust you."

"I promise on one condition…"

"What?"

"That someday you tell Ozpin and the others."

"I will Yang, but I'm worried about what they might say."

"I'm amazed you weren't more shocked when I told you."

"I was at first, then you explained why, and I could never judge someone for wanting to protect their siblings."

"Thank you for understanding, I think we're close to done here, so let's finish this."

"Ok."

The scene faded once more and came back into focus as a room full of trees, a large clearing right in the middle.

"What? I've never been here before!"

"Then we've reached the root of the problem." I said, grinning at my pun.

"Really? Puns at a time like this?"

"So if the roles were reversed, you wouldn't have made the same joke?"

"I didn't say that…"

"Let's just end this."

I started to try and my way towards the center, but everytime I get close the room seemed to shift.

"I've got this…" Yang said sounding confident.

She sets herself ablaze and the trees burn away, at the center is a man(who I can only assume is Yang's father), the woman from before, Summer, and Ruby all standing.

Her family, people she cared for.

"Yang stop!" I yell.

But it's clear Yang isn't in control anymore, the fire was it's own being.

I watched as all the figures in the middle scream as they were burned to ashes.

I see Yang at the center of the inferno, and grab her hand.

"Yang, I know what was blocking you now, you're afraid of hurting the ones you love if you lose control of your power."

The flames are instantly extinguished and Yang falls to the floor.

I bring us out of the trance we had been in, to see Yang crying her eyes out.

"I am the same way Yang."

She sits up and looks at me confused, "What do you mean?"

"You saw what happens when I lose control first hand, but that was nothing compared to what could have happened."

"I could have leveled Beacon and then…"

"It would be the same as what happened in my mind, you would hurt someone you care about." She said, tears still streaming down her face.

I smiled at her, "I want you to try activating your aura again, you should be able to do it without any trouble now."

I stand and help her up, I watch her bring her aura up around her, and the end result being a beautiful orange glow surrounding her.

She lets it fade and turns towards me, still crying.

"Yang, do you need to talk about it?"

"I would love to."

"Ok then let's…" I started to say before my scroll when off, it was Ozpin, he needed to see me right away.

"I have to go, but I can't leave Yang alone now…" I think.

A thought popped into my head and I texted Blake asking her to come to the gym as quickly as possible.

Less than two minutes later, she appeared, and saw the tears on Yang's face.

"I have to go see Ozpin right away, and she needs someone to vent to right now." I explained.

She leaned over and whispered, "And you thought asking the girl with a crush on her was a good idea?"

"She trusts you and it will help both parties, that is if you're willing to share."

"I hate you."

"Come on, you know you like me, but I really have to go."

"Then go, if I can handle an ursa, I think I can handle an emotionally distressed Yang."

"We'll see about that." I said walking away.

I started the walk towards Ozpin's office, passing through the main courtyard as I went.

The walls of the building were lined with rose bushes, which made me start thinking of her.

"Why can't I just tell her?" I said, thinking out loud.

"I've faced more Grimm than some fully qualified hunters, suffered years of torture, even been to the other side and back, but I can't tell her."

"Tell whom, what Sierra?" Ozpin said, coming to my side.

"Nothing important Oz."

"Your potential relationship with Miss Rose isn't important?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not really, if you hadn't been staring at some rose bushes, you could have been talking about anyone."

"You don't have a problem with it if I were to tell her?"

"What you do behind closed doors is your own business, I honestly wish more people saw it that way."

"The world would be a better place if that were the case, so what did you want to see me for?"

"I found something your father left in my possession, and wanted to have it returned to you immediately." He said handing me a small box.

"I never opened it, at his request, it was supposed to be for your sixteenth birthday."

I opened it to find a necklace with a small scroll positioned at the front.

I peeled the faded paper away from the center to find it only had three words on it, "Follow The Mark."

"Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Not a clue, your father was more cryptic than I am, but it worked well for keeping information out of the wrong hands."

"I guess I'll just have to figure out what he is trying to tell me later."

"Off topic, is Team RWBY's training going well?"

"Yes and No, they all have the spirit required, but each of them have something blocking them from manifesting their auras outside of a fight."

"I worked with Yang today, and have plans to help Weiss or Blake next, I think Ruby will have to be last."

"Are you worried about finding something you won't like?"

"I don't want to see that she hates the faunus, or something worse."

"You and Miss Belladonna need to tell them all you are both faunus at some point."

"I showed Velvet after defending her from Team CRDL yesterday, she understands my reasoning that you seem to ignore."

"I never said you had to show the entire school, they trust you with their own minds, so you should be able to at least show them you're a faunus."

"Blake knows, she guessed when she saw me in the hospital."

"She is skilled, I wouldn't have let her into Beacon if she didn't show promise."

"So you saw she was skilled and just let her in? With no combat school experience prior?"

"You don't have any prior combat school experience either, technically speaking."

"I hope you knowing my father trained me for nearly four straight years would suffice for that."

"I believe you are aware of her prior experience with the White Fang."

"Completely, but I know that her leaving shows that she really does want to make change."

"I won't let someone's past dictate my views of them in the present, if I was any different, I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world."

"Words to live by, anyway, I must get back to running Beacon."

"Of course."

"One last thing Sierra, be very careful with how you proceed, I have a feeling that there is a storm brewing."

"There's one brewing alright, but I don't think we can figure it out before it's right on top of us."

"Good night Sierra."

I thought he was exaggerating when he said good night, but then I saw the sun fall below Beacon Cliff.

"I really lost track of time today."

"I guess I could try and get some sleep, but I guess I need to figure out who I'm training first."

"I'll go ask Blake if she would be up for it."

I walk to Team RWBY's dorm and the door is slightly opened, so I couldn't help but take a peek.

"Blake, thank you so much for listening to me blabber for a while, you really helped me through some things."

"I'm always willing to listen, I'm all ears." She said, wiggling her exposed ears.

"You look better without the bow you know."

"Are you saying that I don't look good with my bow on?"

"No, but you seem much more, relaxed without it."

"I'm glad you were so accepting Yang, but do you mind not telling Weiss or Ruby yet?"

"I'm sure it will be fine, but I wouldn't dare tell them if the pretty girl didn't want me to."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Maybe…"

"Well, I think you should try a bit harder…"

"Really? What would you…"

Yang didn't even finish that sentence before Blake pulled her into a kiss.

They broke the kiss, both out of breath.

I do a quick cat call  **(A/N: God dammit Barb!)**  as I push the door open fully, Blake instantly blushes.

"How much did you see?"

"Not much, but I did just see you initiate the kiss though."

"Oh my gosh! Blake, your ears!" Yang said, trying to cover them up.

"Yang, don't worry, she knows already."

"What I don't know is exactly what I just walked in on."

"Well, me and Blake talked about everything, she decided that she could trust me with her being a faunus, then I started flirting with Blake, but she wasn't too happy with my progress so she stepped it up a bit."

"Are you two a thing now? Or am I going to have to try to put you together again?" I said with a grin.

"Wait, you planned this?" Yang asked.

"Weren't you the least bit suspicious when I got Blake and not you know, your sister?"

"I mean not really, she's my partner, but I can definitely see it now."

"Did you ask her to do that?" Yang asked Blake.

"No, but I don't know if I would have ever done that if we hadn't just talked."

"Thank you for your help Sierra, I have a very beautiful faunus girlfriend because of your push." Yang said, making Blake blush at the compliment.

"First, I don't know how long you'll be her girlfriend with your appreciation of the human form, second, I don't believe you asked her to be your girlfriend."

"Good points, I won't stare at your fantastic ass while you are working out with me in future." Yang says, causing Blake to give me a jealous stare.

"And, Blake Belladonna, will you be my girlfriend?"

"No, I just kissed you because I wanted us to be friends." She said giving her the same blank stare Velvet had given me a week ago.

"You want to go see a movie tomorrow then?"

"I would love to, also, Sierra what were you coming to talk about?"

"I was going to ask you when and where you wanted your training to be, I will just ask Weiss tomorrow, as you seem to be busy."

"Have fun you two, but don't do anything too crazy, I haven't had time to go out and buy any ear plugs."

"HEY! We just became a couple, even I'm not that forward!" Yang yelled throwing a pillow at me.

I dodged out of the room and went to my room to turn in for the night, but I opened my door to find Ruby sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Ruby, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to ask you about something, I wanted to know if you would teach me alchemy."

"You've seen what can go wrong and you still want to try?" I say, holding up my metal arm.

"What were you trying to do when that happened?"

"Do you really want to know? You won't hate me if I tell you?"

"It's me forcing you to tell me, so I guess I can't fault you if it's bad."

"Ruby… I was trying the most taboo transmutation in all of alchemy, human transmutation." I say, the memory of that corpse coming back to me.

She looks confused,"I'll explain, alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing matter."

"Alchemy only has one real rule and it's that you cannot obtain something from nothing.

"In order to obtain something, an object of equal value or mass must be taken, this is the law of equivalent exchange."

"So, what exactly were you trying to obtain?"

"I was trying to obtain my mother, to bring her back from the dead." I say, a tear rolling down my cheek.

"I wanted to see her smile again, but I failed, and the thing I made wasn't even human." The tears flowing fully.

"Is that why you didn't want to teach us?"

"I wasn't as concerned about the rest of the team, but I thought about you trying the same thing I did."

"I didn't want anyone to go through the pain like I did."

She turns and hugs me, I instantly blush.

"I'm sorry I brought it up, but I accepted my mother's death and the sacrifice she had to make..."

"That isn't all Ruby…" I say, cutting her off.

"When I failed the transmutation, I was placed in what alchemists call "The Portal of Truth", it's what allows me to do alchemy with my hands."

"It's considered a place between life and death, and while I was there, I met someone…"

Her eyes urge me to continue, "It was a woman, in a white cloak, she gave me a rose, and she looked a lot a picture my dad had showed me of your mom."

Her eyes widened, "Does that mean she's alive somehow?"

"I honestly have no idea what that means, all I know is that she shouldn't have been able to be there."

"That's the reason I didn't want to teach you, you would ask about my ability to do alchemy with my hands."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up when I would explain the whole thing."

"But you said you would need something of equal value right? What equals the value of a life?"

"I thought about that question a lot after my transmutation failed, and I came to one conclusion, The Philosopher's Stone."

"It's supposed to be able to amplify alchemic power to the point where you could bypass the law of equivalent exchange entirely."

"But, there isn't a known stone anywhere on Remnant, so trying to find one would be worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"Can you teach us the basics then?"

I wanted to say no, but the look in her eyes showed the same determination that I had when I first starting learning alchemy.

"I guess teaching you the basics wouldn't hurt, but promise me you won't go try anything stupid."

"Thank you!" she said, hugging me again, "I promise."

She gets up and starts to walk towards the door, "Ruby wait…"

"Yes?"

I wanted to tell her right then and there but… "I wouldn't go in your room for a while."

"I'm sure that I'll be fine."

I hear her open the door to her room, "YANG!"

"I WARNED YOU!" I yell.

I get up and walk over to see both Yang and Blake out of breath(again), and Ruby giving both of them a death stare.

"I didn't need to see that." She said.

"I did try to warn you, didn't I?"

"Will you two be doing that all night?"

"No..." Blake responded, sounding unsure.

"Maybe…" Yang said grinning.

"Do you mind me staying in your room tonight?" Ruby said, looking at me.

"Shouldn't someone be here with the Ice Queen?"

"I think she can deal with it, but Yang's my sister."

"I see your point, I've only got one bed, so we'll have to share." I say, trying to persuade her against it.

"Fine with me, as long as I don't have to see my sister making out with one of our other teammates all night."

Yang looks pleased, but Blake is just trying to cover her blush.

"We're going out as of tonight, so I think it's alright." Blake said.

She somehow manages to send a look my way while saying that, she knows I'm embarrassed about having to sleep in the same bed as my crush.

"All right, just know you owe me one for letting your sister stay over with me Yang."

"Deal, as long as I get my snuggle time." She says pushing herself up against Blake.

"Ok, let's go then." I say, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yay! It's like a sleepover!" She said, grabbing a set of her pajamas on her way out the door.

I move some of my stuff off my worktable I have set to the side of my room, "Yang told me you do maintenance on Crescent Rose before you go to bed, so here's some space for you to work."

"Cool." she says as she begins taking apart Crescent Rose.

She looks at some of the papers I had pushed off to the side, "These are some neat concepts for weapons, are you ever going to make some of these?"

"I don't know, but knowing me, I'll get bored and start tinkering on one of them."

"Dust-infused ion-coil compact sniper rifle?"

"I actually already built that one, want to mess around with it tomorrow?"

"Sure, I don't have class, but aren't you supposed to be training Weiss in aura control?"

"I was going to ask her when she wanted to tomorrow, but I can put it off to play around with my toys a bit." I say, enjoying watching her work.

"All done, let's get to bed."

I laid with my back facing away from Ruby, hoping she couldn't see the outline of my wings against my nightgown.

"Good night."

"Good night."

I hear her fall asleep, and try to do the same, but I couldn't again.

I roll next to her, close enough to hear her heart beat.

I fell asleep easily for the first in years listening to it's constant rhythm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: You thought both relationships were going to happen this chapter, didn't you? It's never that easy, but Sierra will tell her...eventually. Throw a comment on where you want to see the story go. Thanks a lot for reading, Marksman Out.


	7. Snowblind

I woke up to find myself in quite the position.

Ruby had moved really close to me and started to use my bust as a pillow.

I can't say I wasn't enjoying having her this close, but I had to face the day at some point.

I didn't want to wake her up, risk her seeing our position, so I just blinked out of the bed.

"That was close."

"I guess I'll take a shower then."

It actually took me a while to get out of my bandages with the way I had tied them to keep Ruby from seeing my wings.

I eventually got out of them and threw them to the side of my bathroom.

The bathroom was quite a bit larger than most in the dorms, the shower was also quite a bit bigger than most.

I can only assume Ozpin hand picked it so that I'd have enough room for my wings in the shower, but it still really doesn't help.

I stretch one out to full length, and try to get most of the surface clean.

This is a challenge, as last I checked, one of my wings was around 7 feet.

I have to clean one wing at a time in order to fit in shower, even with my shower being one of the biggest.

It takes me quite a while to get both wings cleaned, but I get it done to be ready for my "date" with Ruby.

I get my clothes off the counter where I had them left and started putting them on.

I get my panties on before I hear a gasp.

I turn to see Ruby staring at me, my chest and wings still exposed.

She slams the door, and I can hear her grab Crescent Rose and run from the room.

I put on the rest of my clothes, I go slump against the wall and slide to the floor.

I hear my door open, "Sierra, what happened?" Blake calls from the doorway.

"I'm in here…" I said, sorrow creeping into my voice.

She comes in to the room and sees me against the wall, my wings still slightly exposed without the bandages to cover them.

"She saw them, didn't she?" She asks me.

I nod my head as the tears start to fall down my face, "She ran the instant she saw them, I guess I really am a monster."

"You better not think that, I think she was just startled by them, and I don't think her running off means what you think it does."

"I'm pretty sure it's exactly what I think Blake, I've been called a lot of things because of my wings, and now I'm about to lose someone I care abo.. no, love because of them."

"I considered this option a while ago, but never thought I could go through with it until now, I'm going to get them removed."

"I want you to at least talk to her about it before you do anything that rash."

"It's not just her Blake, if you could get rid of people's prejudice against you, would you?"

"No, otherwise I would have already, you should be proud of who you are."

"Then why have I been hated all my life for it?"

"I only went to school for a year before my mom died, she had help me get over the names people called me, but after she died I just couldn't take it."

"Demon, half-breed, I'm not fully human or faunus which made it so much worse, I didn't fit in with either side."

She crouches down to meet my eyes, "You are not a demon, you're trying to help people by becoming a huntress and teaching others to do the same."

"I don't pretend to know everything you've been through, and I can tell you getting here hasn't been easy." she said, motioning towards my arm.

"But I'm not about to let you destroy who you are because of it." She says bringing me into a hug.

"Thank you…" I manage to get out before I completely lose it and start crying into her shoulder.

We sit there for a while with her stroking my hair until I stop crying.

"Let's go find Ruby and talk to her about it, sound good?"

"Sure, let me cover my wings first." I said, grabbing my bandages from the corner.

We walk around for a while, checking everywhere we knew to look, but came up empty.

"We can ask Yang if she's seen her."

We go back to the dorms and find Yang asleep on her bed.

"How do you suggest waking her up?" I ask.

"I've got a way…" She says, walking over to her dresser and picking up a pair of scissors.

She opens them and Yang instantly sits up, "You come any closer with those and we will not be going to the movies."

"I wasn't planning on it, have you seen Ruby?"

"Yeah, she said she was going to train in Forever Fall, but she looked off for some reason."

"I'll go get her Blake, you don't have to come." I say.

"What exactly happened Sierra?" Yang said, questioning my motives.

"I'll explain later Yang, but I have to find her."

I run as fast as I can towards Forever Fall, trying to make sure Ruby didn't go out alone.

I reach the edge of the forest to hear the cries of beowolves, "RUBY!" I cry.

I crash through the trees to find Ruby cutting down beowolves at incredible speeds, she turns to look at me, but a beowolf sees it as an opening and tries to swipe at her.

I see it start to swing, blink behind it, and put my grenade launcher into its back.

The explosion knocks me back a bit, and Ruby rushes over.

She slaps me, "What were you thinking?"

"I wanted to see if you were alright."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You kinda ran out of my room after seeing me…"

"Of course, I was embarrassed, you weren't wearing very much."

"It wasn't because of my wings?"

"No…" She said, realization dawning on her face after seeing how red my eyes were.

"That's what you thought, wasn't it?"

"Yes…"

She hugs me, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's just that most people hate me for them."

"I think they look really cool, but can you actually fly?"

"I can, but it's been a long time."

"Can you show me?" She said using her puppy dog eyes.

"You know now so why not?"

I take off my shirt and remove the bandages again, "Can I borrow Crescent Rose for a sec?"

"Sure."

I grab it and cut two slits in the back of my shirt, I pull it back over my head and I push my wings through the new holes.

I turn and run up the nearest tree, pushing off when I got to the top.

Two strong strokes push me up into the sky, I feel the air rush past me.

I do a couple rolls and a few dives, feeling the sensation of my wings beating was beyond exhilarating after having them pressed against my back for so long.

I drop down, landing just in front of Ruby, the gust of air pushing her cloak back.

"That is so cool!"

"Do you want to try?"

She gives me a puzzled look, "I can carry someone while I fly." I explain.

"Are you sure you can?"

"Yeah, I used to when I was teaching my younger sister how to fly, I'd have to catch her when she hit something." I said, smiling slightly at the memory.

"So does your brother have wings too?"

"No, he is blind, so I assume he got that instead of wings."

"I thought bats weren't blind?"

"That's true."

"He wasn't when he was younger, though his vision got progressively worse, and he was blind by the time my sister was born."

"He could still beat me in a fight though, his hearing made fighting him and keeping secrets from him impossible."

"So, you want a lift?" I said grinning.

"I guess I can give it a fly." She said, happy to return the pun.

I walk behind her and put my hands around her waist.

"You ready?"

"I guess." She said, sounding scared.

"Ruby, are you afraid of heights?"

"Maybe, just a little."

"It's okay, I've got you."

I do a jumping take off and I have to push a bit harder to keep up with Ruby's weight.

"How does it feel?" I ask after we get above the treeline.

"It feels great, go higher!"

I fly up to the clouds and I notice Ruby nodding off.

"Oh shit! Sorry!"

I flew down a bit and she starts to wake up,"What happened?"

"We went so high there wasn't enough oxygen for you to breathe."

"Why didn't you pass out?"

"I've lived in mountains most of my life, so I've adjusted to it over time."

"Want to head back to Beacon?" I ask, looking at it on the horizon.

"Sure, I think you forgot to ask Weiss about her training."

"Well, I was kind of busy trying to find a certain person who ran off."

"I was embarrassed alright!"

"Why? We're both girls."

"Umm… I like girls…" She said with a blush.

"Oh… that makes sense now."

"I was scared of what you'd say…"

"I have wings, a metal arm, and you thought I would judge you for liking girls?"

"It does seem silly when you say it out loud."

We fly back towards Beacon, when we get close, I go quite high to avoid being seen by other students.

I had tried flying while carrying someone, but I hadn't tried landing while carrying someone.

I try to do my normal, tuck and roll landing only to realize I was still carrying Ruby.

"This is going to suck…" I say to myself before rolling onto my back to prevent Ruby from getting hurt.

"I thought you said you'd flown carrying someone!" She said helping me up.

"I have, landing is a different story."

"Let's get you covered up so you can go talk to Weiss." She starts to hand me her cloak.

"It's fine, I can just blink to my room, so I'll see you later."

"Sure, and I still want to see that rifle at some point."

"Another time hopefully."

I blink to my room and put on my cloak to cover the holes in my shirt.

"Now, time to see what Weiss has been up to for the past couple days."

I walk over to the RWBY dorm only to find it empty, a note was laid on the bed, "Ruby, Weiss, we'll be gone for the rest of the day, so don't wait up for us. Blake/Yang."

"Those two are just too cute."

I walk to the library and find Weiss sitting at one of the tables, she looks like she's been doing some research.

I sneak up behind her, "Boo!"

She jumps out of the chair and puts Myrtenaster to my throat.

"God Sierra! Don't do that!" Putting her weapon away.

"I'm sorry! You looked so focused, I couldn't help it!"

"So, is that what you've been doing in your spare time?" Looking at a notebook and her scroll.

"Yes..." She says, trying to cover the screen.

I get a look at her scroll before she could cover it, it looked like military police records.

"Weiss, tell me what exactly you were looking for in the military's records."

"I was looking for information on you…"

"Why exactly?"

"I wanted to know what happened, you don't seem to want tell me or the others, so I went to find my own answers."

"I'm guessing by how much time you've put into this over the last few days, you haven't found what you were looking for?"

"No, now you're here, so you can just tell me."

"What makes you think I'm going to trust you with that information now?"

"You were digging through military police records trying to find information that I wasn't willing to share."

"Finding answers is one thing, trying to dig up my skeletons is another."

"Let's take this somewhere else."

"Fine by me."

We walk back to the RWBY dorm, she takes a seat at her desk, I stand against the wall.

"I'll ask again, what exactly were you looking for in those records?"

"Anything about you, but I couldn't find anything after your father's death."

"Case: GWR4598"

She types the code into the database, "Just a quick question, how do you have access to Atlesian military records?"

"Schnee Dust made a generous contribution to the military to upgrade its software." She pulls up the file.

"This is a police report, they responded to reports of a fire in the mountains and found a house that had been burnt to the ground."

"It says three bodies were found and identified as…"

"Me, my younger sister, and my older brother."

"How…"

"As far as I can tell, someone paid off the coroner to show us as dead after the fire, the three corpses were burnt beyond recognition and "we" were identified by dental records."

"After this report came out, Ozpin was informed of our deaths, and he stayed out of the case."

"We were kidnapped the night of the fire, and with all of us "confirmed" dead, no one was looking for us."

"That's why you didn't find anything after my father's death, that fire was only a month or so after he died."

"Who kidnapped you?"

"No clue, been trying for the past two years to figure out who they were with no success."

"They covered their tracks really well whoever they are."

"What exactly happened while you were there?"

I cringe at the thought, "Experimentation, torture, anything they wanted to do to us."

"There were around 10 kids including us, our only link being we were all orphans, no one to look for us."

"How long were you there?"

"We were there for three years, I was thirteen when we got out."

"Why did it take you that long to escape? Can't you teleport?"

"Three reasons, one, I didn't have that ability when we were first kidnapped."

"Two, we were kept in aura suppression cuffs at all times."

"And three, they always had a guard on one of the kids, ready to kill if we tried anything."

"I wasn't going to let someone die just so I could escape."

"That's enough questions for right now." I said trying to get off the subject before how we actually escaped came up.

"Fine, but I expect the rest another time." She says standing from her desk.

"I was coming to ask if you wanted to do your aura training today."

"Do we have enough time to get it done?"

"We should if we hurry, where do you think is best?"

"I think it would have to be some place snowy, like home."

"Okay, let's go then."

"What do you mean let's go? Atlas is a several hour flight."

"Not when you're with me, just grab my shoulder."

"Think about where you want to go in detail, my semblance should take us straight there."

She looks to be concentrating and then I feel the pull on my aura as we teleport.

We appear in Weiss's room in the Schnee Manor, the room is all white, and really lavishly decorated.

"Nice room…" I say, slightly out of breath from the use of my aura.

"It has been a while since you last saw it."

"Will this work for you?" I say.

"Yes, but let me inform my father we'll be here tonight."

"Don't give him my name if you can help it, I don't want his sentiments about my father's death."

"Okay."

She goes and talks to her father, explaining what she was doing back at the manor.

I move close to the door and try to listen, "Just how did you get here so quickly?"

"It was one of my teammate's semblance, she's the one trying to teach me."

I peek to see Weiss's father looking nervous, "Oh, I guess that makes sense, and tell your teammate that I'm grateful for her teaching my daughter."

"I should probably introduce myself with how nervous he looks, his reaction should be priceless."

I walk out with my hood down and see Weiss's father look at me in shock. "You are dead." He said, eyes locked on me.

"As you can see I'm not, but how would you know about that?" I said glaring at him.

"The military record has you dead in a house fire, so who are you?"

"My name is Angel Sierra Grey, and it's been a long time sir."

"I want you out of my home now!"

"Father! She is a close friend and practically my teammate."

"She's training me, so you need to get over it."

"I'll leave, if you tell me why exactly you're so afraid of me."

"Your father and I never saw eye to eye on a lot of things, my business practices concerning faunus being one of the main ones."

"He sent you to Beacon to influence my heir didn't he?"

"Teach her to make friends with those animals?"

Weiss tried to say something, but I cut her off.

I practically growled, "My father had no influence on me going to Beacon, he's dead!"

"Murdered in front of me!"

Mr. Schnee looked shocked and started to try and speak, but I wasn't about to let him.

"I can't believe my father was even acquainted with such a monster."

"Your views disgust me! The faunus aren't animals and don't deserve being treated as such!"

"If you don't like that then fine, but just know that I will not train the daughter of a man with such views." I say, turning towards the exit.

"Sierra, wait!"

I walk out into the snow, the wind whipping at my face.

I turn back to look at the manor which faunus labor had built.

It was enormous, the manor was easily the size of two football fields, and probably cost more than Beacon three times over.

Elegantly decorated, I think I even see gold trim in the gardens, but I knew what it took to make it.

"How many faunus lives were ruined to build this place?" I ask myself.

I look at the forest surrounding the manor, the shadows filled with glowing red eyes that didn't dare draw closer to the manor.

"Good, something I can hit…"

I pull my mother's swords from my back, the sunset flickering off the blades, casting ominous shadows.

I run towards the mass of beowolves that had gathered at the edge of the forest, blades ready for blood.

Weiss had grabbed her jacket and followed, but she saw that I had my blades out and knew what I was going to do.

There were around fifty beowolves gathered, the conflict didn't last two minutes, but that was all it took for the sun to set.

By the time I was done, there were no more eyes creeping out from the shadows, and the Grimm knew who had won.

I sat against a tree and Weiss followed soon after.

"I'm sorry about my father, but were you serious about not training me?"

"Do you believe what he does?"

"I will admit I did when I was younger; however, I soon realized how close minded my father was being, and have tried to be more open minded since."

"Why are you so adamant about the faunus anyway? Most people here in Atlas are like my father."

"My mother and father didn't believe in it, my mother especially." Not lying, but it wasn't the truth.

"She wanted everyone to be seen as equals, but I guess that's all it was, a belief."

"What makes you say that?"

"Your father and people like him, who have all the power in the world but can't use that power for anyone but themselves."

"I hope you know I'm not my father."

"There's only one way to know that for sure." I said, starting to take off my cloak.

"What are you…"

I push my wings through the holes I had cut using Crescent Rose earlier, extending them behind me.

"You're a faunus?" She looked at me in shock.

"Always have been, your father doesn't know my mother was a faunus, hell, my father didn't until a week before the wedding."

"She kept it hidden from the world for almost her entire life, but I remember her telling me it was one of her biggest regrets."

"But, she did what she had to, to be treated equally, and I do the same."

"I want the world to be different, so that one day, I don't have to hide who I am."

"What do you think about it Weiss? Am I an animal?" My tone getting darker as I go along.

"No! I could never think that about you!"

"So, had we never met and you saw me walking along, would you think that about me?"

"I wouldn't judge someone just for being a faunus!"

"I doubt that, but until you show me otherwise, I have no problem teaching you." I said, pulling my wings back in.

"It's getting late, so we should probably go back inside."

"Only if your father stays far away from me; otherwise, it might not end up well for him."

"I will tell him to stay out since we're probably staying the night."

"I know I don't have enough aura to get us back to Beacon, so I'm not going anywhere."

We walked back towards the manor, "Weiss, will you do me a favor in exchange for your training?"

"Sure, what?"

"When you take over Schnee Dust, tear this place down or make it a safe haven for the faunus."

"Funny, I was thinking something similar, it just shows how my father uses his wealth only for himself."

We go and sit in the middle of Weiss's bedroom floor, "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Just so you're aware, if I am already present in the memory, then I will be where I am in that memory."

"Ok, so can I talk to you if you're already in the memory?"

"It will be exactly the same as any other memory, I just won't be right beside you."

"Try and manifest your aura, then we'll start."

She lets out a deep breath and we dive in.

Weiss's mind was quite different from Yang's, the environments forming like shards of ice being pressed together.

We are standing in the manor, but it was clearly a long time ago.

The Weiss in the memory was clearly young, maybe around four or five, and she was standing next to a woman who I can only assume is her mother.

"No, not this…" Weiss said, visibly shaking next to me.

The two walked out into the garden and Weiss tugged on her mother's dress, "Mommy, do you know why Daddy has been so mad?"

"He's just worried about some things going on right now sweetie."

"What's he so worried about?"

"Just some things with the company, you don't worry about it."

A red dot appears on Weiss's chest, I knew what was going to happen.

The shot rang out and Weiss's mother dove in front of her, shielding her from the bullet.

The sniper jumped from the roof, and ran straight for the forest.

"No, Mommy!"

"Get inside now Weiss!" Her father yelled from the door.

She runs to her father's embrace, "Is Mommy going to be okay?"

Her father doesn't say anything as guards rush by securing the perimeter, medical staff following behind once the all clear had been given.

Weiss's mother is put on a stretcher and wheeled off to an awaiting ambulance.

One of the paramedics walked up to Mr. Schnee, "It doesn't look good, the round was dust infused, so we aren't sure there is much we can do."

Mr. Schnee didn't look as worried as he should after hearing that about his wife, "Do what you can, but if it cannot be helped, don't waste time."

He turns to Weiss, "Weiss, go to your room and practice your singing, you have a recital coming up."

"But, what about Mommy?"

He grabs her by the wrist, "Don't worry about others, the only person in this world you need to look out for is you."

Weiss started towards her room, her younger self crying as the scene faded.

"You never told me your mom died Weiss."

"That's because she didn't."

"She has been in a coma since that day, the doctors say the dust centralized in her brain and that's what is preventing her from waking up."

"My father never cared, he only saw her as his trophy."

"But, I remember you calling a woman "mother" when she asked one time when we were playing together."

"My father couldn't get a divorce while my mother was in a coma, but he wanted another child, a male heir."

"So he tried with other women…"

"He's been having an affair while his wife is in a coma? That's just messed up."

"Not just one, at least four by my count."

"And just to avoid conflict, he hired a whole new staff that have never even heard my mother's name, so they wouldn't inform my mother's family."

"Are they working on helping your mother?"

"The men my father has assigned to the division don't really care, and as such, my father doesn't give them much funding."

"I doubt they could ever find a cure with how little he gives them, even if they gave a damn."

"Why haven't you told anyone about this? You never told me even though we were practically best friends before my dad died."

"The same reason I assume you don't want to talk about your past, I blame myself for her position."

I go to speak, then realize, she was completely right.

"How could you blame yourself for her jumping in front of you?" I say after a moment of silence.

"I wasn't strong enough then, and I haven't been smart enough to find a cure since."

"That's why I have a 100 in Dust Studies, I have spent years of my life trying to help her, but I can't."

"Alchemy could help, I would have to know the type of dust, which is what I'm assuming is blocking your progress."

"The samples I have aren't pure, which makes doing tests impossible, all the results inconclusive."

"How about I help you with it? I'm sure if we put our heads together we could figure it out."

"Sure, but I'm assuming we aren't done with my aura just yet."

"Nope, so let's keep going."

The scene reforms, it looked like a penthouse apartment in downtown Atlas.

The Weiss in this memory was older, around fourteen I would guess, but she didn't look happy.

A young guy, around eighteen, came and sat at the other end of the table.

"Was dinner to your liking?"

"I suppose, but that doesn't mean there is going to be a second date."

"Are you serious? What did I do to disappoint the princess?"

"Don't call me princess!" Weiss said, standing up and walking towards the door.

"I'll call you whatever I want in my house." He comes up behind her and grabs her by the wrists.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"You wouldn't want to have a child when you're not married right?"

Her eyes widened, "You wouldn't dare…"

He starts to grab at her skirt, she summons a glyph underneath the guy's feet and throws him across the room.

She turns and tries to run from the room, but the guy had grabbed a picture off the wall and hurled it at her.

It caught her on the left side of her face, blood starting to trickle down from the wound.

She managed to get out of the apartment and make it into the elevator at the end of the hall.

"So, that's how you got your scar?"

"Yeah, after I told my father, he bought the building that guy was living in and gave it to me as a birthday gift."

"I guess that explains why I haven't seen you socializing with very many guys at Beacon."

"That isn't the only reason…"

"Is Weiss about to be the third person who's come out to me?"

"I'm not attracted to men as a whole."

"I'm too good at this."

"Does your father know?"

"I'm not sure."

"If he does then he really is a douche, making you go on dates with guys you would never want to be with."

"He wants the family line to continue, even if it is at the cost of both of his daughter's happiness."

"He forces Winter to date? She hasn't even turned twenty and it should be her choice who she dates!"

"I told you, he only cares about the family line."

"Arranged marriages are illegal in Atlas, your father couldn't force her to marry someone right?"

"Nothing is illegal when you have as much money as my father does." She said, looking down at the floor.

I put my hand on her shoulder, "I'll take him down a notch if you want, no man is untouchable."

"You would do that for me?"

"I'm your best friend Weiss, keeping your old man off your back is the least I could do."

"I don't really have much to lose anyway."

"Don't say that!"

"Am I wrong?"

"You have Team RWBY, and you can't finish training us if my father kills you."

"And Ruby would be quite disappointed if you went back on your word."

I tried to sound casual, "Ruby would be the only one who's disappointed?"

"I think it's more like you don't want to disappoint your crush."

"What makes you think I have a crush on Ruby?"

"Well, I might have overheard you and her talking, and it's quite apparent you like her."

"Apparent to everyone but her." I said, grumbling.

"Let's talk about your love life later, I want to get out of my head sooner rather than later."

The shards started to come together again, forming a large concert hall that looked to be at the center of White Manor.

A giant suit of armor sat dormant in the middle of the hall, it's blade the size of a large beowulf.

Weiss entered, looking only slightly younger than she was now, but the determined face was the same one she wore when I've seen her fight Grimm at Beacon.

The scar from her previous memory was still clear over her left eye, I couldn't believe her father didn't make her get it fixed.

"Weiss, this determines whether it is worth me sending you to Beacon, so you mess this up, kiss your dream of becoming a huntress goodbye." Her father yelled over the speakers.

"I will not fail."

"We'll see about that, I think this animated knight is enough of a test of your skill."

(A/N: Watch the White Trailer, putting RWBY trailers into words doesn't do them justice.)

The knight begins to rise, pulling the massive blade into the air.

Weiss takes the first strike, charging the knight to grab its attention, then going for its back while it had turned.

It catches her on the back swing, throwing her backwards.

She starts casting glyphs, using the speed increase to her advantage.

After several quick strikes from Weiss, the knight manages to catch her with a broad swing from his left hand.

Getting up, blood running down her forehead, she spun Myrtenaster's chamber.

She used the dust in combination with her glyphs to drain the knight of its power, rendering it an empty husk.

Her father comes down from his observation room and looks at her in disgust.

He slaps her, "You let it land a hit on you, you better train hard at that school, because I have no problem removing you from this family if you disgrace me."

"Yes Father." Weiss said.

The scene once again fades, only to instantly reform, the knight was back.

On closer inspection, the knight was no longer empty, Weiss's father now wore the armor.

"You failed Weiss! You are no longer a Schnee!" He said running at her.

"Since you're not a Schnee anymore, I have no problem killing you."

I pulled my blades, "We have to beat him Weiss, he must be what is blocking you."

"Alright, you want him first?"

"With pleasure."

I charge, my blades easily slicing through the armor, Weiss's father's blood pours from the wound.

I turn back expecting to see a one armed Schnee, only to see the arm had grown back.

"You're going to have to try harder than that!"

Weiss switches to ice dust and freezes the armor to the floor, I use the opportunity to take a slice at the chest plate.

Again, he seems to instantly recover from the wound, but something wasn't right about his demeanor.

"Weiss, something is off." I said, going back to back with her.

"I guess we have to figure it out otherwise he'll win."

He swings his blade towards us, I bring up a wall of rock to meet it.

Weiss uses her glyphs to propel herself over the wall and straight towards her father's chest.

Myrtenaster pierced the armor, blood sprayed from the wound, completely covering Weiss in her father's blood.

"Well played my daughter, but how will you save your mother without me?"

She hesitates, and he uses that as his time to strike, throwing Weiss against one of the pillars.

"Weiss!"

I turn to help her, only to see a version of her sister helping her up.

I refocus on the fight at hand, jumping on the suit's head, I put my arm into the kink in the armor's neck.

I pull the internal trigger for my grenade launcher, blasting his head to pieces.

It slowly started to regenerate, but Weiss wasn't going to let that happen.

She cast a glyph infused with burn dust over the wound.

The smell of burning flesh coated the room as the monster tried to regenerate, only to have the new flesh burnt away.

I stand there watching Weiss burning her "father" and realize what was actually holding Weiss back.

"Weiss, stop!"

She turns to look at me, her eyes full of tears, "Why should I? He's made me and Winter suffer for years!"

"The sutors, the training, his lack of love for either of us and my mother." She said, looking at her sister standing off to the side.

"I know what it's like to want revenge, but he's still your father and killing him doesn't solve anything!"

"It doesn't take away the pain, it won't help your mother, so stop and start helping your mother and your sister."

"They are your family, and your father doesn't have to be apart of that."

"I know that you can help them both, fix your father's mistakes and care for them."

Weiss drops the glyph over the knight, and instead of regenerating, it melts into a puddle on the floor.

She falls to her knees, me and "Winter" rush to her side.

"I'm proud of you sis, and I'm sure the real me would be too." "Winter" said as she faded away.

I pull us out of the trance, "Are you okay Weiss?"

"I'm fin…" she manages to get out before dropping the act and crying into my shoulder.

"It's alright I'm here."

"You and your sister were always there for me, when you disappeared, I didn't have anyone I could vent to that's why I'm so cold to everyone."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I'm back now and I'm going to find Kurome and my brother so we can all catch up."

"I'm going to help you find them both, so that you can have your family back."

I hold up my hand, "But not before I finish training Team RWBY, I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt on my account."

"More like you don't want Ruby to get hurt…"

"I'm this close to not teaching you." I say, showing her the space between my index finger and thumb.

"Let's get some sleep, you've still got two more people who need help unlocking their auras."

"I put them in order of difficulty, so I've got a tough couple of days in front of me."

"I understand Blake, but why is Ruby going to be difficult?"

"I've got a feeling there is more to her than meets the eye, and that it is what we don't see that will scare me."

"Do you want to take one of the guest bedrooms?"

"I'll sleep on the floor…"

"Nonsense!"

"Weiss, trust me when I say I've slept worse places and that being in this house alone creeps me out."

"If you insist…"

She handed me a blanket and one of her pillows, I curl up and I hear Weiss's breathing even out, telling me she's asleep.

I try to go to sleep like the night before, and find myself missing the constant beating of a certain girl's heart.

"If the only way I can fall asleep fast is next to her, I'm going to have to tell her sooner rather than later."

"You should just tell her." Shadow comments.

"Why can't you just fuck off?"

"I'm alive and get bored just like you."

"A question for you then? If you are alive and not a Grimm, then where's your aura?"

"I don't know, but that is something to take up my time with."

And as quick as he'd come, Shadow was gone to wherever he goes.

"I hadn't thought about that question, but if he is alive and not a Grimm then he has to have an aura."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see what exactly that means." I thought, nodding off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's weird going back and writing end notes when this chapter originally came out over two years ago. But I digress, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Marksman, Out.


	8. The Cat's Claws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens...

I woke up to find Weiss had gotten up before me and had one of the manor's chefs make her what looked like a breakfast buffet in bed.

"You plan on eating all that yourself?"

"I thought you might want something, but I wasn't sure what you'd want."

"So you had them make everything?"

"No, this is just the sampler, I could have had more made."

"And you wonder why we always call you princess."

"Eat something so we can get going, I want to get back to my training for the Vital Tournament."

"You think you will stand a chance against me?"

"You're entering?!"

"It's a benefit of being a student at Beacon, I wouldn't have been able to enter otherwise." I said smiling.

"You have way too much experience!"

"And Pyrrha doesn't?"

"Well, I don't think Pyrrha can copy other people's semblances."

"It's not like I asked for that, and I can't really change it."

"I was thinking about not using my semblance at all, but I know that this tournament won't be easy and I really shouldn't hold back."

"You won't use that one semblance right?" She said

"No, I never want to use Nightmare again unless the person really deserves it."

"From what I've heard Ruby mumbling in her sleep, I can't imagine what she saw when you used it on her and Yang."

"I never asked either of them what they saw, but I really should if Ruby is that shakened by it."

"I'm curious, just how many semblances do you know?"

"I have no idea, I lost count a long time ago, but it wasn't a small amount last I checked."

"It's always exciting to pick up new ones though, it's kind of like meeting a new person, but slightly different."

"Do you judge people based on their semblance?"

"I will if that's the only thing I know about them, it is quite a good representation of a person's personality."

"So, what does my semblance tell you about me?"

"You like order, symmetry, and you are very strong. But you're often too hard on yourself and aren't as flexible as you want to be in combat."

"Hey!..." She said as if to argue, but then she stops as she thinks about it.

"Am I wrong?"

"Then what does your own semblance tell you?"

"I'm cocky, but I have the power required to back it up."

"But in the end, all the power in the world can only take you so far and I won't be able to save everyone no matter how powerful I am."

She looked shakened by what I'd said, "Well, let's get back to Beacon."

I stood and prepared myself, "Ready when you are."

She grabbed my shoulder, "Ready."

We arrived to find the RWBY dorm in a bit of a messy state, most of the bedding on Yang and Blake's side of the room had been removed, and a large amount of stuff was out of place.

"What in Dust happened here?" She said.

I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it, the air freshener covered up the smell of sex, but it certainly didn't get rid of it for a faunus.

" _They totally had sex while Weiss was gone, I hope Ruby didn't walk in on that._ "

Ruby walked in and saw the look of distress on Weiss's face, "Don't worry Weiss, Blake and Yang have already started cleaning up, and it was much worse earlier." She said trying to sound optimistic.

"What happened?"

"Yang said she and Blake got in a fight after coming back from their date, and this was the result."

"That's not what my nose is telling me."

They both look at me with a strange expression, "I'm a faunus and I have a very acute sense of smell, and it smells like they messed around if you get what I'm saying."

Ruby made a disgusted face, "I really didn't need to know that was what my sister was up to."

"I'm just guessing Yang didn't want her little sister to know about sex yet." I said as sarcastically as I could.

"She needs to realize I'm not a kid anymore, I'm fifteen, it's not like I don't know what sex is."

"Babying the younger sibling comes in the job description of being an older sibling." I say, frowning slightly at the thought of my own little sister.

Weiss puts her hand on my shoulder, "We'll find them ok?"

"Will we be able to find them fast enough?"

"Isn't Ozpin searching?" Ruby added.

"Not personally, but he's been watching the AHH case since they reopened it after I came to them."

"They aren't very good with missing persons cases, as such, they haven't really uncovered anything substantial."

"Nothing at all? After three years?"

"They know that my brother's body wasn't in the rubble of the building we were held in, and my sister hasn't been sighted since the night we escaped."

"But it's like you said Weiss, if people don't care, they won't put in very much effort."

"I care, and I'll give finding your family my all."

"Thanks, so where are our two lovebirds?" I said, turning to Ruby.

"They were taking some laundry to get it washed."

"Yep, they definitely did it."

Ruby hits me lightly in the shoulder, "Will you stop talking about my sister's sex life please?"

"I will avoid the subject when I don't come back to your dorm room looking like you had an ursa wrestling match in here."

"We're back!" Yang announced while coming through the door with Blake.

She saw Weiss's angry face, "We've already started cleaning it up Snow Princess, don't get angry about it."

"As mad as I am about the state of this room, I'm even more angry that you would lie to your team leader about what you were up to." Weiss said with her classical smirk.

Yang's jaw dropped and Blake gave me the death stare, I whisper to her, "What can I say, get some better air freshener next time, bats have an amazing sense of smell."

"I'll keep that in mind…" Blake said through gritted teeth.

"Or you could just not make your dorm room look like a tornado went through it when you have sex." I say, this time loud enough for the others to hear.

Yang and Blake both flush, Ruby and Weiss both start giggling at their reaction.

"While your sister and her girlfriend clean up your dorm, want to try out my Ion coil rifle?" I said turning to Ruby.

"Sure, but Weiss, you should probably stay here to make sure the lovebirds stay on task."

We start to walk out and I lean over to Blake, "But was I wrong about you and Yang having some "pussy" time?"

She instantly socks me in the shoulder, "At least I didn't say it in front of the others." I said holding my hand over my shoulder.

Me and Ruby walk over to my dorm, I still have a slight grin on my face from the pun.

"So, where do you keep said rifle?"

"You remember that box that I moved off my desk?"

She nods, "That's it."

"Seriously? That's the size of a small shoe box!"

I grab it from the floor, "Well, Crescent Rose isn't that large when you have it compressed."

"Let's go see which rifle is better, my baby versus yours."

"Does your baby have a name?"

"I call her Nightshade, quiet and deadly."

"So are we going to use the training area?"

"I don't think the training area could handle a shot from Nightshade."

"I was thinking Beacon Cliff, take some potshots at some Grimm."

"Sounds good, but you better be ready to lose."

"You haven't seen Nightshade in action, and if you are so confident, let's make a bet."

"Ok, let's say I win, you have to tell me who your crush is." Ruby said.

I mentally scolded myself for suggesting a bet, but it's not like I was going to lose, "Well, if I win, you have to give me the plans to Crescent Rose."

"Done."

We both set up on the edge of the cliff, I extend Nightshade to her full length of around four and a half feet.

"There are some ursa to our west." Ruby pointed out.

She goes to fire, but I stop her, "I'm the one demonstrating here, at least let me get the first shot."

I aim, lock the fifty calibre bullet into the chamber, and pull the trigger.

The bullet rockets towards the pack of ursa, the impact is the size of a small bomb blast, and there wasn't even a single ursa left in the crater.

Ruby's jaw dropped, "The basic idea is that the ion coil generates a positively charged magnetic field, the bullet's made with an alloy that constantly expresses the same charge, so the bullet wants to get away from the coils as fast as possible."

"I concede." Ruby says with a slight frown.

"Seriously? You're not even going to try? That's no fun."

"And you haven't even tried firing her yet."

"You'd let me fire it?"

"She's a she, not an it, but yes I trust you."

"There's some beowolves to the north east, but be careful, she does have a nasty bit of recoil."

She tries to use the scope to aim, but the stock is a bit too long for her to get a proper lineup.

"Hold still, I'll line it up for you."

I move to the other side of Nightshade and get the shot lined up, getting me very close to Ruby in the process.

I turn my head back and am staring at Ruby, inches from her face, "You're good to go now." I tell her.

I turn away with a slight blush and try to regain my composure, as she braces herself for the shot.

She fires, the bullet tearing across the forest, making contact with the closest beowolf and tearing the rest to shreds with the shrapnel from the explosion.

She stands, brushing off her outfit, "I guess you win the bet, so I'll drop the plans by your room later."

"I also wanted to know, when can I start my alchemy training?"

"I'm free for the moment, so we could start now."

"You know the periodic table right?"

"The thing that lists all the elements, yeah, why?"

"Well, as I explained earlier, alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstruction, and then reconstruction."

"To deconstruct something, you have to understand its makeup."

I take a piece of armor off my arm, "This piece is mostly made up of iron, so it will make a good test piece."

"Alchemy works by using power from the portal of truth to exchange one thing for another, you channel it by drawing a transmutation circle."

"The circle consists of two parts, the circle and the matrix.

"Then how does your alchemy work?"

"I press my palms together to form the circle, and my body is the matrix."

"Most just carve their circles into armor or put in on their clothing, think of my hands as an infinite number of circles, each with different uses."

"Will I ever be able to do that?"

"I don't think so, and don't go thinking that it's something you'd want either."

"I won't, but how do I draw the matrix?"

"Well, it depends on the material you're transmuting, so I'll draw the one for iron really quick."

"I'll have to teach you some different ones depending on how you plan to use your alchemy, most specialize to avoid having to draw circles all over themselves."

"Here, I drew the one for iron, I want you to try and redraw it."

She quickly mimics my drawing and adds the circle around it, "Well done, now place the piece of armor in the middle, press your hands against the circle, and visualize what you want to make."

She closes her eyes and presses her hands flat against the indentation in the dirt, the circle begins to glow and the metal reforms into a rose.

"Incredible! You were able to do it perfectly the first time!"

"Is that really impressive?"

"It took me several times before I got it when I first tried, so it's impressive to me."

"That should be enough for today, unless you're up for some more."

"I asked Weiss for some combat training, so that I'm not completely useless with other weaponry."

"It would be quite rude of me to stand up my partner."

"As you wish, I need to get Blake's aura training done today, so I will see you after that's done."

"Actually, we were going to have a team outing tonight to go see the new 007 movie if you wanted to tag along."

"I'll be there."

I went off in search of Blake, only to find she wasn't with Yang(who was quite peacefully sleeping) and had left a note saying she'd gone to the library to study.

" _Study for what? They just had all their tests a couple days ago._ "

I went to find her sitting at one of the communal computers, she was clearly doing some research.

" _It's clearly something she wants to keep private, she isn't even using her scroll._ "

I sneak up behind her, "What you doin' Blake?"

She jumps slightly, "How did you manage to sneak up behind me?"

"I have a very particular set of skills…"

"One of those is deduction, and I can tell whatever you're "researching" is something you want kept private."

She goes to speak, but I cut her off, "I just came to ask if you would be willing to do your aura training before the movie tonight, nothing more."

"Sure, my research can wait."

"Where do you think is best for you?"

"There is a train track that runs through Forever Fall, I think there would be best."

I get ready to teleport, but Blake interrupts, "I have a question, can someone else join us when we do this?"

I raise an eyebrow, "I mean, yeah, but who do you want to join?"

"I want Yang with me, she shared what happened when she fixed her aura, I want her to see mine for herself."

"Your darkest secrets can be in there, but I know she wouldn't leave you no matter what, so I guess she can tag along."

We walked back to the RWBY dorm to find Yang, still fast asleep.

"Can I wake her up this time?"

"Sure, but I wouldn't use the scissors."

I clapped and generated a small rain cloud above her head, she instantly sits up as the water pours down her face.

She goes to hit me, "Not so fast, I was asked to wake you up by a certain kitty cat, she wants you with her when she's fixing her aura."

Yang looks to Blake for confirmation, she nods, "Of course I'll go with you kitty, where does she want to go?" She says, activating her semblance to dry her hair.

"She said a train track that runs through Forever Fall, but I can use my blink to get us there and back."

"Both of you put your hands on my shoulders, and Blake, think of the location."

She grits her teeth in concentration and we are pulled to the train tracks.

I see her take a deep breath upon seeing the track, "I'm assuming something significant happened here?"

"I'm assuming you'll see soon enough."

Yang puts her hand on her girlfriend, "I'm here for you."

"You ready?" I said turning towards Blake.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

We go off to the side of the tracks and sit in the shade, I transmute a small wall around us to keep Grimm out.

"Here we go." I say as I trigger the semblance.

Again the scenes formed in a different way, coming out of the darkness and shadows.

We looked to be in a crowded arena, the chants of the crowd supporting equal rights and pay for the faunus.

" _This looks like Mistral, wait what's the date?_ " I looked to see a newspaper vendor, and my fears were confirmed, the date matched the date of the Mistralian Faunus Massacre.

"Blake, are we where and when I think we are?" I asked to see tears pouring down her face looking at a couple standing near us.

The woman was holding a baby in her arms, a pair of small black cat ears sticking out of the blanket.

" _No, please no._ "

I hear the microphone peak as a voice comes over the speakers, "I know you all came here as support for a peaceful resolution to your plight, but we have a different plan for you animals."

Gunfire rang out from the stage, people dropping like flies from the automatic fire.

"No!" The woman yelled before being pulled behind a street vendor's cart by a woman in a familiar looking cloak.

" _Mom?_ " I watched as she pulled the blades I now wield and (using her semblance) dodged her way up to start taking out the attackers.

One after the other, my mother dispatched the gunmen and made her way off the stage.

I hear a pistol shot ring out and see blood seeping through my mother's shirt near her shoulder.

"Bitch…" The man who had fired said as my mother disarmed him.

"Who sent you?" She said grabbing him by the collar.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

My mother punches him in the face, "I won't ask again, who sent you?"

"We have plans and you can't stop them." He said biting down on what looked to be a false tooth.

The man instantly fell limp and it was clear he was dead.

My mother walked away, looking for any survivors in need of first aid.

She stopped at the sight of the woman who she had saved earlier, clutching her child to her chest.

"Are you okay?" My mother asks the woman.

"Where's Ghira?!"

"The man who was with you?"

"Yes! Please tell me he's alright."

"KALI!" A voice boomed.

"I'M HERE!" she yells.

The man runs over to hold his wife, "You're safe."

"You're hurt." She says, looking at the gash in his shoulder.

"I got grazed, nothing harmful."

"Oh my Oum... There's so many..." She says, looking around the fallen.

My mother turned away and was about to walk off, but she turned back, "What's your name?"

The woman extended her hand, "Kali, Kali Belladonna and this is my husband Ghira."

My mother met her hand, "Angel, Angel Grey, I wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances."

"Thank you, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."

"If only I had acted sooner…"

"I'm sure you did what you could, but you're hurt, let me bandage that." She said, looking at my mother's shoulder

"Don't worry my aura will heal it quite quickly, but there are still plenty more wounded, would you mind helping?" My mother asked her.

"I'll do what I can, but I don't know how much that will be with her here." She said, motioning towards the baby in the crook of her arm.

"She is cute as button that's for sure, what's her name?"

"We had just decided on Blake before coming today."

"Blake Belladonna, a very pretty name."

"I guess my husband and I should start thinking up names." Pushing her cloak away to reveal her inflated abdomen.

Kali gasped, "You did that while you're pregnant?! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I needed to save as many people as I could, I'm not going to let someone die on my watch if I could do something to help them."

Kali started tending to a wounded man, while Ghira rushed off for others, "We need to do what we can for those who are still with us, so I guess this is goodbye for now."

"I hope we can meet again someday Kali, so I can show how strong my little girl grows up to be." She said smiling, as if she knew I would hear it.

"I will be waiting!" She replied

The scene fades and I turn to Blake who is looking at me wide eyed, "Nice to meet you Blake, I think we've met before."

She pulls me into a hug, "How did your mother know?"

"She always seemed to have a knack for predicting stuff like that."

"I owe her my life, is she…"

"No, she died protecting me from Beowolves, is your mom…"

"Both my parents live in Menagerie, I haven't been back since I left the Fang, but we could go whenever you like."

"It would be my pleasure."

"You never told me you were from Menagerie."

"It never really came up, but I would have told you if you had asked."

"Wait, let me get this straight, your mom saved Blake's during the Mistralian Faunus massacre and she never told you?"

"I never asked because my mom didn't like talking about it, I heard her and my father talking, she said she wished she could have been faster and stopped it from happening in the first place."

"Why was she there in the first place? Wasn't it a faunus rally?" Yang said.

Blake and I lock eyes, "You don't have to show her if you don't want to." She said.

Yang looked confused, "Well, seeing as the rest of Team RWBY knows, I really shouldn't keep this from you."

I take off my cloak, unwrap the bandages, and extend my wings from behind me.

"Wow…"

"I'm glad you think so, I haven't always gotten that good of reaction out of most."

"You saw my reaction to Blake's ears, why wait so long?"

"I have been judged all my life for my wings, called quite a few names, so I hope you'd understand that trusting people with my secret really isn't easy."

"I know it isn't easy for me to show others, the only reason I showed you Yang was because I had feelings for you and wasn't going to keep something that big under wraps."

"I guess I wouldn't know, but I hope you both realize that you could have said something at anytime and I wouldn't have judged you for it."

"Thanks Yang, it is good to know there are some people out there that won't judge the faunus just for their features."

"Don't thank me, it is just the way my dad brought me and Ruby up, does she know about your wings Sierra?"

I blush slightly at the memory, "Yes, she found out the night she stayed over in my dorm, she might have walked in on me after I had taken a shower."

"That's why she ran off! She was embarrassed about seeing you naked!" Yang said, bursting into laughter near the end.

"I wasn't completely naked! I just didn't have a bra on!" I said, red as a tomato.

Blake grabbed Yang by the ear, "Stop insulting my friend while we're in my head. I want to keep going, so stop interrupting."

"Ow,Ow, OK!"

"Let's continue then." I said, letting Blake's mind take over again.

Loud chanting again filled my ears, still in support of faunus rights, but definitely louder and more aggressive than before.

"The time for peaceful protests are over! Our plight hasn't been resolved even with the deaths of our brethren ten years ago! The White Fang will be the avenging wraith of the faunus!" The speaker yelled out.

I turn and see a eleven year old Blake cheering along with the crowd, "We are taking recruits for the White Fang! To avenge the deaths of the fallen faunus!"

They began sending sign up sheets throughout the crowd, almost all of the faunus in attendance signing up.

Blake grabs for the sheet only to be met with a firm hand, "I don't think you know what you're signing up for." A guy, around thirteen, told her.

"I know what I'm doing! I want to fight!"

He smiles at her, "If you think you can keep up… My name is Adam, Adam Taurus." I noticeably flinch at the name, and Blake sees me shudder.

"My name's Blake, Blake Belladonna."

"Well, I know where they are taking new recruits, so you can follow me for the time being."

The two walk off together and everything dissolves into black.

"You were willingly apart of the White Fang?" I asked Blake.

"Yes, I was young and wanted revenge for what happened to my father, the White Fang offered me that chance."

"Your mother didn't say anything?"

"I told her that I wasn't going to do anything violent, she believed me and as long as I came back to show her I was fine every once and a while, she didn't stop me."

I go to retort, but Yang puts a hand on my shoulder, "She believed what she was doing was right, and most would have done the same thing."

Blake thought about my reaction, "Sierra, do you know Adam?"

"I've got a feeling we'll see soon enough."

**Blake POV:**

I watched as Sierra disappear from where the three of us were standing.

"SIERRA! Where did you go!" I yell out as the scene begins to form again.

" _I remember this place, it is where the Fang setup just before I left._ "

The place was sprawling, easily the size of a small town, and had tents and small trailers set up as far as the eye could see.

Guards were stationed periodically around the edge of the outpost, keeping out the Grimm and any potential intruders.

"Blake, where exactly are we?"

"The White Fang outpost just to the south of Atlas, this was one of the largest the Fang ever setup in my time with them, they needed space for training new members and storage for supplies."

"Blake, I've got something you'll want to see." Adam said, talking to the slightly younger version of myself.

"What is it?"

"We captured a prisoner in the raid on that facility in Outer Atlas, I've tried interrogating her, but she won't give up what she knows, I want you to try."

"Adam, I don't want to hurt someone if it isn't necessary, are you even sure she knows anything?"

"I know she has some intel, and anything we can get is useful."

"I'll try, but only because you think it will benefit us."

Yang and I follow my past self, weaving through tents before coming to what looked like a heavily armored trailer.

"Am I safe to go in unarmed?"

"We're keeping her in aura suppression cuffs, her display at the facility was quite impressive."

" _Oh no, I remember…_ "

The past me walks into the trailer, Yang and I follow quickly behind before the door is sealed.

"Wake up!" The past me said, smacking the girl held up by her arms in chains.

The girl tilts her head into the light, it's Sierra!

**Sierra POV:**

" _I forgot about this… Blake's gonna hate me for not telling her…"_

I feel the smack to the face as if it had just happened, "Why were you being held in that facility?" The past version of Blake asked me.

"I don't know…"

"Who were you being held by?"

"I don't know…"

I hear the door click open and Adam step inside.

"I'm getting tired of hearing "I don't know", so tell me something you do know."

"You couldn't take me in a fight…" I said grinning.

He punches me hard in the ribs, "Wise gal huh? Let's see just how much you can take."

He pulls Blush and puts it to my left shoulder, "I'll ask again, what's something you do know?"

"That usually, if you want something, you say please."

He pulls the trigger and my automail joint shatters, oil seeping onto my shirt.

"Well, I'll admit, a metal arm is a first, so that's what they were doing?"

"No, my father built me this after I lost my arm to a Beowolf, and I would like to get back to my nap soon if it isn't too much trouble."

I turn my head up to look at Past Blake, she clearly looked displeased with how her partner was acting, and present Blake and Yang were like ghosts watching from the corner.

"Adam, I really don't think she knows any…"

"Be quiet Blake! Then where is your dear old dad huh?" Putting Wilt to my throat.

"Gone, and nothing I can ever do can change that." I said, letting my head drop after he pulled away.

"How about your mom?" Past Blake asked timidly.

"You really think my mom would let me get kidnapped if she was still around?"

"You got any more fucking questions?" I growled at the two.

"Just one, how much does this hurt?" He said, putting Blush to my thigh and pulling the trigger.

I screamed as the bullet tore through my leg, the blood covering the floor and Past Blake's shoes.

"ADAM! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was teaching her not to be such a smart ass when a superior is talking to her."

"Go get one of the medics in here Adam, she's useless to us if she dies."

Adam grunts and walks out of the trailer, trying to be as slow as possible.

"Fuck me…"

"I'm sorry about my partner's behavior, if that means anything to you." She said, trying to stop the bleeding.

"I was just wondering why someone like you is with the White Fang, you don't seem like the aggressive type and you apologizing proves that."

"I want revenge for all the people that died during the Massacre, the Fang offered me that chance."

"I can't say I would join a terrorist organization just for revenge, no matter how bad I might want it."

Adam walks back in with a medic in tow, "Try and make it as painful as possible, I want to see if that frees up her tongue."

"It's clear she doesn't know anything about that facility Adam, torturing her isn't going to change that."

"I don't know, she's clearly hiding something, in fact, strip her down Blake."

"What?! No! She isn't just some animal Adam!"

"You're defending prisoners now? What about avenging your fallen brothers and sisters huh? You said you had what it takes!"

"I'm not going to harm innocent people just for vengeance!"

"If I may…" I interject, they both freeze.

"You can take off my jacket, I have been covering them up from humans, but other fauna can see them."

They both look slightly confused, "Ok…" Past Blake responded.

She moves and takes off my jacket to reveal the thick bandages, "You can take those off too."

She removes them and reveals my wings and the number of scars gained from experimentation and torture.

"What kind of monster are you?!" Adam exclaims, putting Blush to the back of my head.

"I am a bat faunus, one of the last of my kind."

Blake is just staring wide eyed at the sight, "Adam, you've been torturing another faunus?"

"I don't think she's a faunus, I think that's what they told her when they made her."

"No, I've been like this all my life, and I've been called a monster just like that all my life."

"You claim to want equality, but you aren't willing to accept another faunus, typical of those who claim such things."

"How dare you…"

"I understand her struggle, desperately wanting revenge, but you I'm not quite sure whether it is equality you seek or simply power for powers sake."

"I can end your life right now!"

"You could and it would prove to your partner just how much of a monster you really are."

He looks at Blake and then pulls Blush back from my head, looking to the medic who had been standing off to the side, "Make sure she's kept isolated, I want to get more out of her, and make sure you bind her wings."

They walk out, I watch as present Blake and Yang follow after them.

" _I hope Blake won't be too mad about me not telling her…_ "

**Blake POV:**

" _I can't believe Sierra never told me, she knew I had been in the White Fang, but didn't say anything._ "

"Blake, I'm sure she doesn't blame you for that, Adam told you to do it." Yang said as we followed after Adam and my past self.

"How could she not? I let her be kept there and beaten."

"I'm sure if she harbored any grudge, it would have come up before now."

"I think she is letting the past stay just that, the past."

"I sure hope so."

My past self and Adam come to a stop, "What was that Adam? You're torturing a fellow faunus for information she doesn't even have!"

"I'm sure she knows something, and it's necessary, that facility had some really advanced weaponry that the Fang can use."

"It's clear she doesn't know anything about that, so let her go."

"I know she is hiding something and once she gives it up, she can go."

My past self goes to speak again, but Adam cuts me off, "We'll talk about it after we go after that train tomorrow, until then I don't want to hear another word."

The scene fades and Sierra reappears beside us.

**Sierra POV:**

"Hey…" I say sheepishly.

Blake slaps me, "Why the hell didn't you tell me? I could have apologized for my actions, but you kept me in the dark!"

"It was because I didn't blame you! You were following orders! If you had heard some of the things I've done under orders, you wouldn't have batted an eye."

Yang gasps and Blake looks confused, "What are you talking about?"

I paled slightly, realizing I had let something slip, "I didn't tell you what I endured in that facility that day because it was awful."

"Me, my siblings, and seven other orphaned children were held in that facility. They trained us how to kill, made us into human weapons, and made sure a life was constantly in the balance to ensure that none of us stepped out of line. We were sent out on assassination missions, anyone they told us to kill we did, and if we hesitated, one of our fellow trainees would be killed. Not a single one of those kids was going to die on my watch, so if someone on the mission couldn't do what was asked of us, I'd pick up the slack. One day, The White Fang broke into the facility, me and my brother defended while the others got away, but the facility was rigged to blow and my brother was still inside when it went up."

"I was captured after I let the others go before me, and to this day, I still don't know whether any of the kids are okay, including my brother and sister."

Blake locks eyes with me, "You were doing what you needed to do in order for those kids to stay alive, do you regret it?"

"I did at first but now I've accepted it as something I had to do to keep people alive, but the nightmares will never leave me."

"But, we're not here for me, so let's get your aura fixed and get to that movie." I said, throwing on a smile.

"Ok, but I want the whole story someday."

"I will share someday, but I don't think it will be anytime soon."

"As Long as you tell us…" Yang said, grinning ear to ear.

"Yang, I swear if you don't stop with the puns…" Blake growls.

"How will you punish me kitty?" Yang said in an incredibly sultry voice.

"Make out already, I didn't realize I interrupted something."

Blake was blushing bright red, "Yang, please stop, you're embarrassing me."

"Ok, sorry, I kinda forget where I am when I'm with you."

"Awww, that's so sweet." I say, sarcastically.

The scene comes back to together, the three of us shifting slightly as the train continued to pick up speed.

Adam and Past Blake run past us, jumping from car to car.

"PARKOUR!" I yell following after them.

The Schnee Dust Company logo was splattered all over the cars, and I noticed the large amount of armor coating all the walls.

" _They were really trying to keep people out, I get why Weiss's dad was so mad about people bypassing his security."_

The shipping container just in front of me had its hatch cut open, after coming face to face with Wilt, I'd say Adam's handiwork.

I drop through, Yang and Blake close behind, to find Adam and Past Blake cutting down SDC bots.

" _They were a really good team, no doubt about that._ "

"Move to the next car, I'll set the charges."

"What about the crew members?"

"What about them…"

A Spider Droid drops from the ceiling interrupting their little chat, Yang and I watching in awe as Past Blake and Adam worked on taking the droid down.

It's Adam that finally takes the droid down, using his semblance to channel a massive amount of energy through Wilt, turning the droid into ash.

I see Blake move onto the next car, Adam goes to speak but…

"Goodbye."

And that was it, Past Blake severed the car connection, and watched as Adam faded into the distance.

We were still on the car with Adam, but didn't Blake's memory just end…

Adam turns to face the real Blake, "Why did you leave me Blake?" Staring directly into her eyes.

"I was your teacher, your mentor, your friend…I loved you."

"You changed Adam! All you wanted was the downfall of humanity, not equality!"

"I always wanted equality and if the downfall of humanity is what it takes then so be it."

"You're the enemy now Blake, so I have no choice…"

He charges her, only to find Wilt locked against my swords, "I've been waiting for the day I get to kick your ass…"

"Especially after I made you my replacement for Blake right?"

" _How did… We're in Blake's head, my memories shouldn't come into play._ "

I saw Blake's face flash to momentary confusion, but refocus quickly, as she got ready to fight.

It was pretty one sided, but Adam just wouldn't go down no matter how many hits we got on him.

"Blake, we have to figure out what's blocking you, then we're home free."

I watch Blake go to hit Adam, but he flashes her a smile and she hesitates…

"Blake! That's it! You are worried about having to face old allies."

Adam stops moving and Yang goes to hit him, but I stop her, "This is her fight to finish."

Blake walks over, tears flowing down her cheeks, "Goodbye, for a while at least." Striking him through the chest with Gambol Shroud, his body dissipating into vapor.

"What did he mean?" She said turning towards me.

"Blake…"

"What did he mean?!"

I sighed, "After you left, Adam needed a new partner, someone of equal skill and strength."

"He came to me asking if I would do it for a year in exchange for my freedom once the year was up."

"I didn't really have any choice other than to accept, my other option was being "silenced"."

"Though after about nine months, he started to get attached to me, and I'm assuming he wanted there to be more to our "partnership"."

"I endured his advances for the next three months, never doing more than a quick hug or a kiss on the cheek."

"But the night I was going to leave, he cornered me as I was getting dressed for bed and practically shoved his tongue in my mouth."

"As I pushed him away, he begged me to stay, but I knew exactly what staying would mean and left that night, never looking back."

Blake and Yang both looked horrified, "I can't believe he would do something like that…"

"I think it was more my fault for not just denying his advances straight away, I think he saw us as a couple, so I don't blame him for it."

"But the past is the past, let's keep it that way, and if Adam shows up, we'll face him together alright?"

I bring us out of the trance just as the sun was setting, I look at my scroll, "Shit! The movie starts in like ten minutes!"

"Ok, I know the theater, let's teleport straight there." Yang says grabbing my shoulder.

Blake grabs my other shoulder and I feel the pull once more as we're whisked to the theater.

Ruby and Weiss were waiting at the entrance, Weiss tapping her foot impatiently.

Ruby spots the three of us, "Good you made it, Weiss thought you'd be late!"

"Good, I have to prove Weiss wrong a lot to make up for lost time." I comment, making Weiss fume.

The movie wasn't bad, Daniel Craft ( **Audience: Really?, Me:** **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯** ) was excellent as always, but I always find action movies quite boring in comparison to what I do for a living.

"That was so cool, I want a laser beam like that on Crescent Rose!" She said, the five of us walking out of the theater.

"I'll make you one for Christmas, I thought making you a Nightshade would be better though."

Her jaw dropped, "You were going to make me a Nightshade?"

"I guess it's not a surprise anymore, so I'll have to give you something else along with it."

The other three look at me, "Hey, I'm going to get you guys something, but you guys aren't weapons junkies, so you won't appreciate her enough."

The sound of alarms pierces the quiet night, we all turn to see Torchwick leading a bunch of goons out of a dust shop.

He sees Ruby, "Nice to see you again Red, been a while."

"Team RWBYS go!" Ruby yells.

" _So I guess I'm part of a team after all, but I know they won't slow me down!_ "

Me and Blake move in sync, her shadow clones blocking Roman's attacks, while I go on the offensive.

Ruby and Yang are taking on the goons, Weiss taking a support role casting glyphs when and where they are needed.

There were fifteen guys, Roman included, it didn't take five minutes to have Torchwick cornered.

"You five are going to be annoying to deal with, but not impossible." He said, readying a shot from his cane.

I slice straight through the barrel with my right sword, cleaving the weapon in two.

"Oh well, plenty more where that came from, ta ta for now Red." He says dropping a flash bomb at his feet.

By the time my vision clears he's long gone, but he left the remains of his cane.

" _What the…_ " Noticing something drawn on the inside of the barrel, near the hilt.

I take a closer look and gasp, it's a transmutation circle!

" _An ignition circle, no one knows something that advanced except… It has to be my brother or sister!_ "

Ruby sees the circle, "I thought you said not many people use alchemy in combat."

"They don't, there's no way Torchwick knows something this advanced and uses it in such a passive manner."

"This has to be one of my siblings handiwork, no one else would know to do this."

They all look at me, Weiss being the first to speak, "Then we'll have to track down Torchwick and see what he knows, but that's for another day, I'm sure the three of you are exhausted."

"Speaking of which, Blake, show off a bit."

She brings her aura up around her, the purple color mimicking her last name's flower.

Yang brings hers up and hugs Blake, the orange and gold dancing between the two.

Weiss steps near the two, bringing hers up in the process, the white acting as a barrier between the two other colors.

"Can we do my training tomorrow? I hate feeling left out." Ruby pouts.

"I guess I could take some time out of my busy schedule…" I say, the sarcasm oozing from every word.

"Also, when did Team RWBYS become a thing?"

"When you agreed to train us, I haven't said it aloud before today though."

"I think it will suit us just fine!" I said, ready to unblock Ruby's aura and make some progress on their training.


	9. The Past Darkness

I couldn't sleep knowing one of my siblings was alive and I wasn't doing anything to look for them.

I got up and started to do some maintenance on my swords.

Apparently I wasn't being all that quiet because before long there was a knock at my door.

" _Probably Weiss coming to complain about the noise._ "

I opened the door, surprised to see Ruby standing there.

"Did I wake you?" I asked.

"No, I haven't been sleeping all that well lately…"

"Does it have to do with what you saw when Shadow used Nightmare on you?"

"Not really, that just kind of reaffirmed what I was already thinking." She says, while I motion for her to come in.

She goes and sits on my bed, "I saw Weiss, Blake, Yang, and my mom all dead at my feet. They were clearly gone, but the bodies still whispered, "You failed us."

"It makes me think I'm not cut out to lead Team RWBY, seeing how skilled you and the others are, makes it seem like anyone would be better than me."

"Ruby, Ozpin chose you as leader because that is where you can grow the most.

"If you were already a perfect leader, then what would be left for you to learn?"

She smiles, "I guess you're right, we are in school after all."

"Anything else you want to talk about since neither of us are going to get much sleep?" I said, laying back, stretching my wings out behind me.

"Well… I want to know a bit more about my teacher."

"Ask away then."

"When is your birthday?"

I raise an eyebrow, but answer anyway, "It's in about two weeks, why do you ask?"

"I wanted to be able to get you something whenever it was."

I frown slightly, she picks up on it, "What's the matter?"

"Two things really, one was me realizing just how few of my birthdays I've celebrated, the second was the reason why."

Her eyes urged me to continue, "My mom died on my sixth birthday, and I tried to bring her back on my birthday two years after that."

"It made any sort of celebration sad, all I'd have to do was look to my left to be reminded of what happened."

"I guess we don't have to have a party then, but I know all of us would love to get you something."

"You guys really don't need to get me anything, I'm content with what I have."

"You can't think of anything you'd want for your birthday?"

" _I want to call you my girlfriend, but that isn't something I can expect you to do for me._ "

"You're going to have to give me time to think about it, I haven't thought about birthday gifts in a long time."

"Ok, but I expect you to come up with something for each of us to get you, all of us owe you a lot."

"I feel like I owe you and Yang, not the other way around. Has she said anything about what she saw when Shadow used Nightmare on her?"

"I went to her about it first, she told me that I'm going to be a great leader someday, but she didn't want to talk about what she saw."

"I want to know, has Shadow always been a thing?"

I thought about it, "I guess he just kind of showed up after I attempted human transmutation."

"At first, he didn't seem all there, almost like he was lost or something like that."

"He started talking to me about a year later, saying he wanted to help me when I fight."

"I let him take over in a sparring match against my brother, he fought ferociously, but I could never beat my brother."

"My father always had us shake hands after we finished sparring, Shadow took it as an opening to attack, leaving a scar across my brother's face."

"I took back control, and I have never given it willingly since."

"Have you ever tried talking with him?"

"He came to me a while ago, saying he wanted help sorting out his mind, I told him that I'd help him if I thought I could trust him."

"He also showed up when I was at Weiss' place, he commented that he was alive and could be bored just like me.

"So I asked him, if he was alive, then where was his aura?"

"He's been silent since then."

"Wait, Team RWBY all had something blocking their auras, who's to say Shadow doesn't as well?"

"I never really considered him more than just an alternate personality, but I guess Truth must have given me more than I'd bargained for when I went through the Portal."

"What would happen if you tried to help him in the way you've been helping us?"

"I don't know if I can, I usually use a semblance on the person's physical body, but he doesn't have one."

"If he asked, would you try and help him?"

"I don't know what would happen if I did, and I still don't really trust him."

"I think he's just misunderstood, if he asks, at least hear him out."

"I will, but only if you're there with me, so you can knock me out if he tries anything."

"I can handle that…" She said, giggling.

I grab her hand, "I'm serious, if he tries anything, knock me out."

"Ok, but that has to wait until after we've done my training."

"Agreed, speaking of which, we should both probably be well rested for that." I say, laying back.

"Do you mind if I stay here? Yang used to let me climb in her bed when I'd have nightmares, but I can't really do that now that she and Blake share."

I smile at her, "I used to do that for my little sister too, so why not?"

She climbs up on the bed and curls up next to me, "Thank you…" She whispers as she nods off.

I can't help but lean closer, trying to get as close to her heart as I could.

Once again, it only takes a minute for me to fall asleep, with no nightmares plaguing me the whole night.

I wake up and smell the roses, which isn't all that difficult when Ruby constantly smells like them.

I blush, realizing just how close I was to the girl, and instantly blink out of bed to trip and fall over Nightshade(Which I had forgotten to close up.).

" _I really have to stop doing that, she's my friend, and I don't want to mess that up."_

I throw on some clothes and put my cloak over that, I wanted to get Ruby and I some coffee.

" _She has to like a lot of sugar in her coffee, I'll grab quite a bit._ "

I walk back to my room and find Ruby still fast asleep.

" _I'll wait a bit before waking her up, if she hasn't been getting much sleep for the last week, I think she could use this._ "

I sit on the edge of the bed, sipping coffee, before Yang rushes into the room, "Have you seen…" She says before seeing Ruby in bed.

"She had a nightmare and heard me doing some maintenance on my swords, she asked if she could stay with me since Blake was in bed with you."

She gave me a sour look, "I don't know how I feel about you being in bed with my sister."

"You act like we messed around or something, I just comforted her when she had a nightmare, I did it for my younger sister all the time."

Ruby started to wake up after hearing her sister, "Yang, it wasn't like she asked for me to do it, I just needed someone with me and she was willing."

"Fine, just come back before I wake up next time, k?"

"If you insist sis."

Yang walks out, seeming quite annoyed, "You ready for your training?"

"We're collecting sap for Professor Peach today, I can do it after we get done."

"I guess I'm going back to…" I say, getting interrupted by my scroll.

It was Ozpin, he wanted me to go on the sap collection, apparently there had been an extremely large amount of ursa in the area.

"I guess I'm going with you then." I say, kind of annoyed that I wasn't going to be able to sleep some more.

"I hear the sap tastes really good." Ruby says, happily sipping at her coffee.

"How do you manage to switch between mature leader and carefree child so quickly is beyond me."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

"I couldn't really tell you how I meant it, so it's however you take it."

"I forgot to ask, how are you adjusting to being pushed ahead two years?"

"It's been going better than I thought it would, I still miss my friends from Signal though."

"I be worried if you didn't, but I was thinking more academics wise."

"The classes really aren't any harder than the ones at Signal, different, but not really harder."

"Is Oobleck still as hyper as I remember him being?"

"He is really hyper sometimes, but he tore into Cardin…" She stopped frowning slightly.

"What?" I say after seeing her expression.

"He kinda tore into Jaune too, they both weren't really paying attention."

"I've always been curious about Jaune, nothing about him screams huntsman or leader for that matter."

"I caught him in the hall yesterday, he said that he'd messed up, Cardin had him on a leash and Pyrrha wouldn't talk to him."

"He said him coming here was a mistake, that he was a failure."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"I told him that he was a leader now and that leaders aren't allowed to be failures."

"I told him that it isn't just about him anymore, he's got a team and that has to go first."

I smile, "And you said you were a bad leader, I've never heard better from Ozpin."

"Thanks, but I'm not that good all the time."

"Ruby, you don't have to be the best all the time, you just have to be when others need you."

"I just don't think I will be strong enough when the time comes."

I have a realization, "Ruby, I don't think I have to dive into your head to figure out what's blocking your aura."

She looks confused, "You have the opposite problem to your sister, you're worried that you won't be strong enough to save everyone."

"Is it really that simple?"

"Ruby, I think Ozpin pushing you ahead made you miss one of the most important lessons you will ever learn."

"What?"

"That you will never be able to save everyone."

She looks shocked, "What do you…"

"You said you wanted to know more about me right? I'm going to tell you a couple stories."

"The first is about how my father died…"

***Flashback start***

* * *

Our house definitely wasn't one of the most conventional, there were bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen, but we didn't have a living room, we had a sparring arena.

My swords met my sister's in a flurry of sparks, "Come on sis, give it everything you got." I yell.

"I am!" She says throwing herself into a charge.

I side step and trip her quite easily, "You can't get angry like that, anger isn't a useful tool when you fight." I extend my hand to her.

She grabs it, "I can't help it, I can never seem to beat you."

"Now you know how I feel when I face brother."

"I thought you told me Matt wasn't good at close range."

"He isn't, but he's still better than me."

"Also, why does Matt get to use a sniper rifle when he's blind?"

"Because you don't need eyes to be a good sniper." My father said, coming into the arena.

My sister runs up to him, "Dad! You're home!"

"I missed you too, have you been keeping the others out of trouble?" He says, rubbing her head and messing with her hair.

"She's been doing a great job Dad, I assure you." I hug him.

"How did the hunt go?"

"We managed to get the nest up in Crag Pass, apparently, the AHH doesn't have a hunter to spare for a nest the size of a small town."

"I think it's more like they know you live nearby and expect you to take care of it before they have to."

"One of these days I'm going to get too old for that kind of stuff."

"I don't think that will be anytime soon, speaking of which," I lean over and start to whisper, "Kurome's birthday is coming up and we need to get her a present."

"We'll think of something, but in the meantime, I just finished the modifications of your brother's rifle and he can't wait to try it out."

We go out to the balcony and see my brother running his hands over the new modifications to his rifle.

"How's it feel Matt?"

"A bit heavier, should help with recoil."

I look out over the balcony at the cliff's edge below and spot some ursa walking around, "Matt, there's some ursa if you want some target practice."

I watched him put the rifle onto the railing, take a deep breath, and pull the trigger.

One, two, three, each perfect shots to the chest.

"I'll never understand how you do that."

"I can teach you one of these days, all it takes is a little concentration."

"And lack of sight, bat hearing, and an extremely fine tuned aura."

"Those definitely won't hurt you, but I think I could teach you."

"Have you gotten Kurome anything for her birthday?"

"I have actually, I made her a gauntlet for her left arm, since she doesn't have any cover on that side."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure, if you do the paint and detailing, we can say it was from the both of us."

"I wouldn't want to steal your thunder."

"Considering it probably doesn't look that good without paint, and I can't see to paint it, I don't mind you sharing in the limelight if it's better in the end."

I walk back through the arena, passing the kitchen and Kurome's room, to come to a stop at one of the last rooms in the house.

My brother's room was quite empty, his lack of sight makes it hard to move around when there is a large amount of furniture.

He grabs the gauntlet off his desk, and throws it to me. (He never misses a throw or a high five.)

"Did you have anything in mind?"

"I think I'll let the artist decide how she wants to paint it."

"I'm not really that good…" I said, with a slight blush from the compliment.

"Bullshit! Kurome said your paintings look amazing!"

"She said that?"

"She said Dad even was impressed, he didn't think he could ever paint like even if his life depended on it."

"I think I'll go red, maybe some black detailing."

"Sounds incredible, but I think she will love anything the two of us make for her, we'll probably be shown up by dad anyway."

"He seems to know the three of us better than we know ourselves sometimes."

"I think that's his job as a parent though isn't it?"

"I guess I'm going to get started on this, call me when dinner's ready."

I walk out to the workshop, the garden looking really pretty in the spring time.

I sit at my worktable,(there being one for each of us), and grab my sketch pad from off to the side to get an idea of how I wanted this to look.

I did a couple sketches, I decided that it would be a red base with a pair of bat wings over the wrist-plate.

I prepare some red paint and dip the gauntlet in its entirety, pulling it out and putting onto a hook to dry before I do the detailing. (I never got a chance to finish that detailing.)

" _I think it's about time for dinner, I'll go early and help Dad._ "

I walk back through the house, my dad clearly concentrating on making dinner.

A flicker of shadow catches my eye, almost as if the shadows behind my father were alive…

"Dad! Watch out!" Jumping in between my father and the shadow.

I catch the knife between my sword blades and throw it from the shadows.

My dad turns on the kitchen lights and the shadows dissolve leaving a man in a black cloak sitting in the corner where the shadows once were.

"Who the hell are you?"

The cloaked figure says nothing, but then he disappears in a puff of black smoke.

" _Shadow Walker huh? This is going to get interesting._ "

I hand my dad one of my swords and we go back to back, "You ready?"

"I'm always ready."

The cloaked figure had reclaimed his knife and comes after my father full speed.

" _So dad's the target then?_ "

I meet the knife with my sword and can smell the poison no doubt on the blade.

"What's going…" Kurome says rubbing her eyes as she walks into the room.

I see eyes flick towards her under the cloak, the assailant breaks our lock and dives toward her, knife at the ready.

" _She just woke up, she won't be able to dodge!_ "

I start to run, knowing I'm too late, and close my eyes.

Kurome screams, I open my eyes to find her holding my Dad, the knife clearly visible in his chest.

Matt runs into the room, I charge at the hooded figure as he begins to fade into the shadows, he looks at the three of us and whispers, "I'm sorry…" as he is fading into the shadows.

I drop my blade and run to my father's side, "Dad!"

I clap and try transmuting the poison, "Sierra, don't waste your energy, this isn't something that can be fixed." He says, the poison having already spread across his chest from the wound.

"I can do something, I won't let someone else I care about go…" The tears running down my face.

"Mom's death was my fault, twice, I'm not going to let you die."

He grabs my shoulder, "Never blame yourself for your mother's death, she chose to make that sacrifice, don't let it be in vain by blaming yourself for it."

"Continue her work, rid this world of Grimm, and make sure that one day the faunus will be equal."

"Why did you do it?" Kurome gets through her own tears.

He looks into her eyes, "I just wanted to make sure that my daughter was going to be safe."

"The three of you are strong, be there for each other, and I'll be with your mother cheering you on." He said, the pain clear on his face.

"Dad, don't leave, please…" I say, pouring every ounce of feeling I could into those words.

"Be...strong...,and…never...forget...I...love...you" He said, with his final breath.

His grip on my hand faltered, and I let it fall to the floor.

I grab the knife from his chest and bring it swiftly to my own throat, "Sierra!" Kurome says, pulling it from me.

Matt tackles me, "Let me do it! If I can't save him, I want to go too!"

"Don't you dare!" Matt yells as he slaps me, I stop, I don't think I'd ever heard him yell.

"You think we aren't suffering! You think we aren't thinking the same thing! I know I am, but I'm not going to disobey our father's last request!"

"I don't know if I can be strong, but I'll be damned if I don't try! We are all that we have left, and I'm not going to let either of you go!" He says, pulling me into a hug.

Kurome joins in and the three of us cry for a really long time.

***Flashback end***

* * *

"Sierra…" Ruby said looking shocked.

At some point during my retelling, I had started to cry.

"Nope, we're not done yet, I've got another one for you."

"How I lost my brother and sister…"

* * *

***Flashback start***

" _The hung from the ceiling by chains bit is getting old after three years._ " I said to myself, thinking about just how long it been since I'd gotten here.

The man who gave us our assignments walks into the room wearing his usual anonymous mask, "How are we doing today?"

"Just bright and perky like always!" My voice entirely filled with sarcasm.

"Still just as resistant as the day you got here, I'm impressed, you and your siblings seem to be the only ones who haven't broken yet."

" _Good, they haven't gotten to them, I can only hope the other kids can be helped once we get out._ "

"What can I say, we are a strong bunch."

"Yes, and the other children seem to find hope in that, so we plan on removing that hope by showing them just how weak you three are."

I laugh(in the face of death), "So you're going to make examples out of us then?"

"Yes, but not in the way you might think, we're not going to get rid of some of our best lab rats."

"So then what exactly do you plan on doing?"

"You and your siblings will see soon enough."

He walks out, chuckling to himself, leaving me to question exactly what he will be doing to my brother and sister.

A while later, one of the guards came and dropped me to the floor, "Stand up, you've got a show to put on."

They lead me, still in cuffs and chains, to the training area.

The large arena-like space was set up with what looked like a small stage in the middle.

The other kids were sitting around the stage, my sister already present on the stage with her wings exposed, and my brother was sitting next to her.

"Nice of you to join us, now we can begin."

I'm pushed to my knees by the guard, he pulls my shirt over my head, leaving my wings exposed.

"Since you children take such pride in these three we wanted to show off just how weak they really are."

He pulls what looks like a hacksaw from a nearby table, " _No, he isn't…"_

"Hold her wing out…" He said one of the guards standing off to the side.

The guard pulls my sister's wing to full length, "Now, this is what happens to heroes."

He starts sawing into her wing joint, she screams, "Stop! Don't hurt her!" I yell.

"You wanted to go first? Oh well, I have to finish what I started."

He keeps going, the sound of the saw tearing through muscle and bone was sickening to me.

To my brother sitting next to her, that with her screams had to be agonizing.

I hear the wing hit the floor, "One down, one to go."

I try and block out her screams of pain and the sound of the saw going back and forth, those sounds would haunt me for years to come.

"Now to finish the job…" He said, pouring burn dust down the length of her back.

The smell of seared flesh made me throw up in my mouth, "One birdie isn't going to be able to fly anymore, let's make it two."

I feel him place the saw on my joint, "Any requests for styles?" asking like a barber would.

"Your dead body." I growled.

He goes to start, only to be interrupted by the alarms.

"What's going on?" He yelled to the guards.

"White Fang, multiple militants." A guard said running towards the sound of gunfire.

He turns back to me, "I guess I'll have to be quick then…"

I realize the guard holding my chain had run off, he leans down to start, I throw the length of chain around his neck and pull it tight around his neck.

"Any requests for styles?" I say, holding the chain as tight as I can around his neck.

"I think the Not Breathing style suits you quite well." I quip as he chokes.

He stops struggling and I drop his lifeless corpse to the floor, I run over to my sister, "Are you okay?"

"I'll live, I might not be happy about it, but I'll live."

"I'll go get our weapons, I need you to get brother and the others out." My brother, shell shocked from what he had heard, was practically frozen in place and hadn't said a word since my sister's wings had hit the floor.

"If the White Fang are here, how are you going to get out? Your aura is still too weak to teleport."

"I'll find a way once I get our belongings, just run and don't let yourself get caught." I stand, going over to the lifeless corpse of our captor and grabbing the keys to our cuffs.

I unlocked all the cuffs, all the kids looking ready for a fight if they needed to be.

"You guys go with my sister, she'll lead you to the exit, while I get some weapons if we need to fight our way out." I said turning to run to the armory.

Our father taught us to be constantly aware of our surroundings, even if we were caught, there were no exceptions.

I was always watching when we were brought back from missions, I probably knew these hallways better than our captors did.

" _Labs, no, Weapons Testing, good, but not what I'm looking for, Armory, perfect!_ " I thought, running through the halls.

I smashed the cases all our weapons were held in, grabbing my swords and sheaths, my sister's shortsword, and my brother's sniper rifle.

I grabbed an assortment of other weapons for the other kids, not really knowing what any of them use, " _I'm sure that they can all use assault rifles._ "

I started to run toward the exit, seeing makeshift barricades and bottlenecks made in the halls approaching the exit.

I turn the corner to see the White Fang surrounding the group of kids, I pull the pistol I grabbed out and fired it at the ceiling.

The Fang soldiers turned, I used it as an opportunity to transmute a wall between the other kids and the soldiers.

" _Where are the guards?_ " I thought, after clearly seeing them run out, I hadn't seen a single one.

"Kid, we don't want to hurt you…" The lead guy said, not lowering his rifle.

"See when someone has a gun trained on me, I get the impression they do want to hurt me." I said transmuting a box around the men.

I ran and took down the wall between me and the others, and started giving out weapons.

"Have you seen any of the guards?" I asked my sister.

"No, I think they went deeper into the facility to guard some of the labs."

"Sierra, I hear some activity below us, I don't think they plan on leaving."

"What?!"

"I think I can hear them placing charges, we need to get the kids…"

He's interrupted by the White Fang busting down the mechanical blast door, a figure strode into the room.

I walked out from the group, "Kurome, get the kids out."

"I'm not aloud to let you leave." The figure said, his face obscured by a Grimm mask.

"Then I'll let them walk over your body." I said, using my darkest tone.

He shoots his sheath at me, which I easily deflect one handed.

He charges, I push my two blades into his one, keeping the two of us locked together.

"Kurome, go now!"

"But what about you sis?"

Matt grabs her shoulder, "We'll take care of this and be right behind you."

"Ok, if you say so." She says, leading the seven others out of the blast door, towards the surface.

"I can't let you leave!" He says, throwing his sword towards the exit.

My brother takes aim and blows the sword out of the air, embedding it deeply into the wall.

"You're not going to let them leave, we're going to force you to." Matt said taking aim at the man's head.

"You've lost, now tell your men to let my sister and the others through."

I put his walkie talkie up to his ear, he gives the order for the men to stand down.

"Good, now Matt let's…" I say, before being thrown to the floor by an explosion.

The masked man rolls out of the way, through the door, while Matt and I tumble over the edge of the collapsing floor.

Matt grabs the wall on the way down, "Swing yourself up and grab the ledge!"

I brace myself to start swinging, but then a thought occurred to me, "How are you going to get out?"

He stays silent, "Hell no! I'm not going to leave you! I'll fly us out!"

I try and stretch my wings out, but a searing pain passes through my left wing. That bastard had started cutting before I threw the chain around his neck!

"Sierra, if you can't get us both out of here, go now!"

"No! I'm not going to let you go!"

"I said go!" He said, pushing me into the jump.

I grab the edge of the blast door, pulling myself up.

"Swing towards the sound of my voice!" I yell to him.

He swings up as high as he can, his hands miss the doorframe and I try to grab him, but can only watch as he falls into the seemingly infinite darkness below.

"MATTHEW!" I screamed, knowing full well that I couldn't get to him even if he survived the fall.

I grab the man's sword from the wall, and put it to my own throat…

But I stop, " _Kurome needs me… I have to be strong…_ "

I stand, grab my swords, and take one final look at the complex I had been held in for the past three years.

" _He's alive, I would know if he died, but if he is alive, they have him again._ "

I think, grimacing at the thought of what those bastards will do now that he had tried to escape.

I walk out of the building, tears still streaming down my face, only to find the White Fang had set up at the exit.

The man my brother and I fought was standing at the front, "I thought my brother told you to let us through."

"No, he said to let his sister and the others through, you weren't with them."

"I'm his sister, so I think it still applies."

"He's dead, I don't think our deal extends that far."

"Well, then I'll just be going through you."

I use my aura to hold his sword behind my back, ready both my blades, and prepare to try out tri-wielding.

"What the…" He says, seeing my technique.

"Like what you see? Good, because if you don't get out of my way it will be the last thing you see."

They lose automatic fire, I spin, deflecting the bullets off my three blades.

I begin to feel nauseous, " _Shit, I thought I had recovered more aura…_ " I thought before feeling something hit me in the shoulder.

I grab the dart from my shoulder, " _A stun dart?_ " I thought, falling to the ground.

"Get her back to camp, she might know something about the weaponry we salvaged." I hear him say.

" _Kurome...be...safe._ " Is my final thought before passing out.

* * *

***Flashback end***

I look up to see the rest of Team RWBY had arrived at some point while I was talking.

Ruby was crying, Yang turned to look at me, "What the hell did you do?!"

"I gave her a lesson, not one that I should have had to."

"Yang, what's the last lesson you learn before graduating from Signal?"

"It's that you can't save everyone…" Her eyes widening in realization.

"That's all I've done, she was being held back by the thought of not being strong enough to save everyone."

"I told her about how I wasn't strong enough to save my father, my brother, or my sister." I said, the tears running down my face.

"But you guys interrupted me before I could finish…"

Ruby stops crying and the others all turn towards me, "If we save even one life, it's beyond worth it."

"The person you save could go on to do great things, my mom always used to tell me about how she would get letters from the people she'd saved, and they all told amazing stories about how they gone on to live their lives."

"We can't save everyone, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!"

I look to Ruby, "Let's see your aura then!"

She only has to concentrate a second before a bright red glow surrounds her and the smell of rose petals fills the air.

" _Incredible!_ "

"You did it sis!" Yang said hugging her sister.

"I think we need to get going, I don't want to be late for the sap collecting." Ruby says standing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah, but I know I definitely need to get you something for your birthday."

I blush, "Don't think you need get something extra special for it, helping you is part of my job."

"But telling me your past wasn't that couldn't have been easy for you."

"No, but I wasn't going to let the team leader be the only one who couldn't train with us."

"Well that training is going to have to wait until after we get done with the sap collection."

"Fine by me." I say, ready to go after the inevitable Grimm.

" _I can never get over just how red this forest is…_ " I think, looking through the trees that stretch further than even I can see.

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight see."

"Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees inside this forest, Miss Grey and I are here to make sure none of you die by doing so." Goodwitch clarifies.

I look back at the students, Jaune was clearly being forced to carry the equipment, as I remember Cardin being assigned the job as punishment by Professor Goodwitch.

" _He wasn't lying to Ruby when he said Cardin had him on a leash, I wonder if I need to intervene._ "

"Each of you is required to collect one jar of red sap; however, this forest is filled with the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. "We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock, have fun!" She says as the students run off.

I backflip into the nearest tree, leaning up against the trunk, while sitting on a branch.

"Miss Grey, we're supposed to be keeping an eye out for the students." Goodwitch points out.

"They should be able to handle it, and I can blink close if they do need any assistance."

"Any particular reason for your recessive demeanor? You seem off."

"It hasn't been the best morning for me, but it was quite good for Team RWBY." I say, dropping down to face Goodwitch

"How so?"

"I finally got all of their auras unlocked, I can start doing some actual training with them now."

"I hope you realize they are still first year students, no matter how skilled they are."

"I hope to at least teach them the basics before the tournament."

"Will it matter if you're entering?"

"Ruby stands a fair chance against me, her aura is one of the most powerful I've ever seen from someone who's had no training."

"You put that much faith in her?"

"She hasn't given me a reason not to, her skills combined with her strong will, there's no doubt in my mind she will do great things."

I pick up on some sound, an ursa's growl, "Ursa! Ursa! It's got Cardin!" I hear in the distance.

" _Goodwitch doesn't know I'm a faunus yet, hearing from this range would be impossible for a human._ "

" _But if Cardin is with an Ursa, Jaune is more than likely there as well._ "

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Blake and Yang come bursting through the trees, "Cardin and Jaune are in combat with an ursa."

Goodwitch looks to me, "On it!" I say, blinking towards the sound of combat.

I warp over, cloaking myself to avoid being spotted by the ursa, and watch as Jaune blocks a hit from the ursa.

" _I think I'll just watch, Goodwitch might get a little mad, but I want to see what Jaune has got._ "

Watching him confirms my suspicions, he definitely needs some work in the combat department, but he wasn't fairing as bad as I thought he'd be.

He goes in for his final strike, but I can tell his stance with his shield is too wide.

" _He'll be really injured if that strike hits…_ "

I go to move only to watch the shield magically move to intercept the hit.

" _How?_ " I look around to see Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha standing off to the side of the clearing.

" _Niko's semblance, makes sense now._ "

"What?" I hear, listening in.

"How did you…?" Weiss asks her.

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have glyphs, my semblance is polarity."

I see Goodwitch walking around the other side of the clearing, and decide to give those three time to sneak away.

"What happened?" She asked me when I approached.

"An ursa attacked Cardin, Jaune engaged it in combat."

"And you did nothing to help?!"

"Jaune seemed to have it under control, I would have helped him had he needed it."

"I don't know whether to slap you or commend you for allowing the students to take initiative."

"I know they have a good teacher, so I wasn't worried."

"Flattery won't get you far with me Sierra."

" _I know that, Ozpin's been trying that trick for years._ " I think, grinning slightly.

"We're heading back then I'm assuming?"

"All the students have the sap they need, so I guess we can head back early."

I look up at Beacon in the distance and look back at all the students following me and Goodwitch, "I hope you realize these kids will have to go up against terrorists soon." Shadow comments.

" _Where the hell have you been? And what do you mean?_ "

"I know Torchwick is planning something, and if he has one of your siblings, the amount of high tier alchemy he could use is immense."

" _You have a point, but Torchwick's goons have never been hard to beat._ "

"Something gives me a feeling he isn't the highest one on the food chain, ask Goodwitch about the night she met Ruby."

"Goodwitch, when did you first meet Ruby?"

"I met her when I was sent out in response to Roman Torchwick robbing a dust shop in Vale."

"I was slightly disappointed he got away, but he had a powerful dust caster with him and I wasn't going to risk Miss Rose's life to pursue them."

" _How did you…"_

"I hope you realize I'm not you, so I might know a thing or two that you don't."

" _Then do you know anything about what happened to you?_ "

"What do you mean?"

" _How did you end up in my head?_

"I think you'll have to help me figure that one out, but that is for another day, you've had a long day."

" _Tell me about it, I'm ready for a long night's rest._ "


	10. Ascension

"How have you been Sierra?" Blake said, catching up to me.

"Bored, I don't understand why Ozpin hasn't let me take you guys out of class for the past week and a half, teaching you guys is all I really have to do."

"We've had several big projects going on, but I think he is more concerned about the festival coming up."

"You could come to classes if you wanted to…"

"I know, but the only area I'm not fully fluent in is Grimm Studies and Port drives me insane."

"How so?"

"He's a pig, and since I'm not lucky enough to be in a relationship like you, he doesn't cease to emphasize that fact."

She chuckles at my description of Port, "Come to Goodwitch's, we would love to see Cardin get it handed to him again."

"My father taught me, and apparently, Goodwitch never beat him in a fight, so I think I'm pretty well off."

"I was going to bring popcorn to watch him get what he deserves."

"It's the way he was brought up, he's one of those rich kids who thinks he can get away with whatever he wants, so me beating him up won't make a difference."

"Your father was a really famous general right? How come you aren't the same way?"

"He was humble, we never went without, but we also didn't live in luxury or anything."

"From your stories, he seems like someone I would have loved to meet."

"I don't know if you would…"

She gives me an odd expression, "He was never quite the same after my mom died, I think he wanted to make up for the happiness our mother would have brought us."

Then I smiled, "Even so, birthday gifts from him were always special and they were never ridiculously expensive, but they would always be exactly what you never knew you wanted."

"I remember he got my brother some really good headphones, and my brother got really into music mixing just after that."

"I was the artist, my brother was the musician, and my sister was the author."

"You're an artist?"

"Yep, drawing, painting, sculpting…"

"I know what I can get you for your birthday now, I'm glad I thought of something given it's only three days away."

"How did you…"

"Ruby may have asked Ozpin when you didn't give her the exact date, she wanted to make sure we all got you something."

"She really asked Ozpin?"

"Yeah, she cares about you more than you realize."

"Do you think she…"

"I think you'll never know until you ask her, it will definitely help you to ask, it did for me."

"I assume that only applies if you get the girl, rejection won't be fun considering I have to finishing teaching you guys no matter what."

"I was going to be Yang's partner for the next four years regardless of how it turned out."

I roll my eyes, "True enough I guess."

"We are all going out to see how Vale is turning out for the festival, you should come along."

"I'll come along, I don't really have anything to do otherwise."

We walk to the Team RWBY dorm and find the other three ready to go.

"Sierra, you're coming?" Ruby said, seeming surprised.

"Blake invited me, so yes."

"Aww, I was hoping to get your present while we were out." Yang whines.

"Blake, didn't you remember that's what we were going out for in the first place?" Weiss complained.

"I kinda forgot…" Blake replied sheepishly.

"I don't have to go if you guys are going shopping for me…"

"Sorry for my girlfriend, she forgets easily." Yang said, clearly teasing her girlfriend.

"I will remember that next time we're in bed." I hear Blake grumble too low for any non-faunus to hear.

She looks at me and realized I heard what she said, she instantly blushes.

"What'd you say Blakey?" Yang asks.

"Nothing, but we'll catch up with you later Sierra, sorry for not thinking."

"Don't worry about it, and you all better not buy me something super expensive for my birthday."

"How many bet on Weiss' gift being the most expensive?" Yang asked.

All of us, except Weiss, raise our hands.

"I have limitless amounts of lien, of course I'd be willing to give my best friend something expensive for her birthday."

"I'm serious Weiss, if it is super expensive, I'm not going to accept it."

"Fine, but what is expensive for you?"

"Two hundred dollar maximum."

"Seriously? Buying you a car would be pocket change."

"Nope, not budging." Even though my own car would be quite nice.

"If you insist…" She grumbles.

"I'm assuming no one else has a problem with that price cap?"

"Fine with us." The other three said in unison.

"I'll see you guys later then."

I walked over to my dorm room and laid back on my bed, " _I'll admit I'm excited to see what they get me._ "

"You should be, it will be your birthday after all." Shadow quips.

" _Hello, how you've been?_ " Giving him my most sarcastic tone.

"Pretty good, but that's not why I'm here."

"I wanted to know if you thought what Ruby said could be true."

" _What?, about your aura being blocked just like them?_ "

"Do you think…"

" _Well, I can't say for sure, but it is quite likely._ "

"Could you help me?"

" _Could I? Maybe, but should I is the real question._ "

"It stands that you could benefit from it as well, given we share the same physical form."

" _Except that no being can have two auras, so I'm not quite sure how that would work._ "

"It would get me off your back about it…"

" _Why didn't you start off with that?_ "

" _What do you think is blocking you?_ "

"My guess would be the fact that I have no memory of how I ended up in your head or wherever I am."

" _You don't remember what happened to you?_ "

"Nope, not even my own name."

" _I would try using the semblance I used on the others, but you don't have a physical body for me to use it on._ "

"Could I use Blake's semblance and make a shadow clone of myself? Would that work?"

" _Shadow clone, how appropriate, but it might just work._ "

"Let's try it then!"

A shadow clone of myself pops into existence beside my bed, but slowly distorts into a male figure lacking any color to his features.

"Ok then, here goes nothing."

* * *

I feel the usual pull and appear in the same room I was in my dream a while back.

"Shadow, you here?"

"Yep, so where exactly are we?"

"You don't remember talking to me here?"

"No, when did I do that?"

"A couple weeks back, you came to me in a dream and asked if I would help sort you out."

"I never did that…"

"Then you are broken as fuc…" I was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"The person asking for help was me." Another male figure with a really similar voice comes into view.

"Who are you?"

"Well, I don't know, all I know is that me and the guy standing beside you came here at relatively the same time."

"How come you didn't mention that before Shadow?"

"I don't know." They both respond.

"Wait, which one of you is Shadow?"

"I am." They both respond again.

"Well, shit."

"Who was talking to me just before we came in?"

The one closest to me raises his hand.

"Who was the one who asked me for help in a dream a couple weeks ago?"

The one farther away raised his hand.

"So, there are two of you?"

"No, we are two different people from my understanding." The one farther away says.

"Then why do you sound so fucking similar?"

"I don't know, but I just want to know who I was." The one closest to me whines.

"You don't remember your past either? I guess we have more in common than I originally thought." The one farther away quips.

"So what do you want me to call the two of you because I'm not a fan of Shadow One and Shadow Two."

"I guess call me Shadow and call him Shade." The one closest to me suggests.

"You alright with that for the immediate future?" Looking to the one farther away.

"I think I can work with Shade for the moment."

"I assume you both want me to help you?"

"Yes." They say in unison before growling at each other.

"I think we need to figure out exactly where we are before I can help either of you."

" _Before I had assumed this was my mind from the echo, but now I'm not so sure._ "

"Do either of you know how long you've been here?"

"It would be just under eight years for me." Shadow says.

"Around seven for me." Shade says.

" _So both arrived here after I attempted human transmutation._ "

I gasp, " _Is this my portal?_ "

" _But… it doesn't look anything like it did when I was here last time._ "

"Seems the little alchemist has figured it out all on her own." I hear an all too familiar voice call out.

I spin to find myself face to face with the Truth, "Long time, no see."

"I can't say the same, I've had my eye on you since your transmutation failed."

"And why is that?"

"Well, you're a direct alchemical connection to Remnant now."

My eyes widen, "What the hell do you mean?"

"I mean, oh how should I put it, you're basically like a power cord to Remnant."

"So then what are they?" I said, pointing towards the two male figures off to my side.

"They are Lost Ones, beings whose lives were tampered with in failed experimentation with alchemy."

"These two are the only ones?"

"No, but I thought you wouldn't appreciate having many more people having access to your thoughts."

"But if you're here this can't be my mind."

"That's true, but they share your physical form technically."

"Are they dead then?"

"Not exactly… but they aren't alive since they don't have physical bodies"

"But if they exist and aren't Grimm, shouldn't they have auras?"

"It would seem to be a case by case basis, most often they do retain their auras, but lack any sort of ability to use them."

"Even if they could use them, how would they they able to access them? They don't seem to have their own physical forms and a being can't have two auras."

"That's because they require something to channel their aura, a sort of connector, that connector wouldn't have two auras, but their own aura would be multiplied."

My eyes widen in realization, "Me?"

"That's correct, very good young alchemist."

"In attempting a transmutation that was completely impossible, you became a conduit for the Lost Ones."

"So human transmutation is impossible..."

"I never said that, I said what you attempted was impossible."

"But that's what I tried to do isn't it?"

"Aw, after you got the other things so fast, I thought this one would be a cinche."

"I won't reveal that one to you, but I will give you a warning."

"Your physical form may try and alter itself the first time your attempt this sort of connection, similar to how your portal has changed because of the connection."

"In what way would I be altered?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, and I think I'll leave the rest up to you." Truth says, beginning to walk away.

"Wait! Are their auras blocked or do I just have to channel them?"

"I'll leave that up to you to figure out young alchemist!" Truth said, disappearing from view.

I sink to my knees, Shadow and Shade coming to my side, "What's wrong?" Shadow asks me.

"That's a lot to take in, and I don't really know what to make of it."

"Let's talk it through then."

"Well, Truth said that you are people whose lives were messed with using alchemy, but neither of you remember what happened?"

"I don't have any memories other than this place."

"Me either."

"I guess I'll try the semblance again now that we're here…"

"Speaking of which, where are we?" Shade asks me.

I glared at him for interrupting me, but answered anyway, "I'm assuming since Truth can be here that it's my portal of truth, but it has definitely changed since the last time I was here."

"Well, given that thing's description, I'm assuming it changed when you did what you did."

"Oh yeah, you guys have no idea what I've been talking about this whole time right?"

"Not a clue."

"No idea."

"Now as I was saying, I'll start with Shadow, then Shade will go next."

"Fine by me." Shadow says, clearly annoyed it took this long.

"Get on with it then." Shade complains.

I sit and motion for Shadow to follow, he sits and I trigger the semblance.

* * *

The scene forms much like they did when I was helping Blake, there weren't any form or faces in the darkness, but simply infinite depth.

I watch as a faunus teen runs past us, his cat ears perked up, clearly listening for pursuers.

" _That has to be Shadow._ " I think after seeing no one else around.

"Let's follow him." I say, running after the child.

He clearly knows the streets well, easily rounding corners I didn't even see.

"You were a fast little faunus I'll give you that."

"Thanks I guess."

We followed until he reached what looked like a dead end, I was curious what he was doing in such a place.

My question was answered by him kicking a nearby wall twice, I could hear the sound of a locking mechanism being disengaged.

A secret door opens up, "Why are you so late young man?" An older woman scolds the teen.

"I might have gotten caught, but I know I wasn't followed."

"Get in here then! Before someone sees!" The woman says practically pulling him through the door.

Shadow and I follow quickly behind, the door quickly being closed behind the woman.

"I swear you need to be more careful, you can't get caught like that."

"I don't need to hear that, I know already."

"I'm not about to let you get hurt, you're apart of Underwood."

" _Underwood… where have I heard that name before?._ "

"It's not like I have a choice, I'd be killed if I tried to live in Vacuo."

" _That's it! It's the faunus safe haven in Southern Vacuo!_ "

" _I remember my mother said she was born there, but she never said why she left, I understand now._ "

"Why was I forced to live in a place like this?" Shadow said, looking around at the decrepit state of the room we were in.

"From what my mother said, the people in Southern Vacuo hated the fauna to the point they were basically driven underground, I never believed the hatred could ever get this bad."

I refocused on the scene going on in front of us, "Regardless, you look like you could use something to eat, let's see what the others have come back with." The woman told the boy.

We followed as they walked through various hallways, they eventually arrived at what looked like a cafeteria.

"Hey Thomson! You got anything for my boy to eat?" The woman called into what looked like the kitchen.

"I'm not your boy…" The teen grumbled underneath his breath.

"I take care of you, so you might as well be." She snapped back.

"I got a little bit of grilled chicken left over, but the others haven't come back with anything else yet." Thomson says handing her a small plate with the chicken on it.

"Here, you need to eat something after being out all day." The woman handing the plate to the boy.

"How come the others aren't back yet?" The boy asks, his mouth full of food.

The woman smacks him in the back of the head, "I don't know what could be keeping them, but that's no excuse for having bad manners."

"I'm treated like an animal by humans, might as well act like one since nothing we do seems to change how they think of us."

She smacks him again, "That's no way to think young man!"

"I don't really…" The boy starts only to be interrupted by several people coming through the door.

"We're back!" The first one announced, holding a massive bag of food on his back.

"Jeremiah, where did you get all this?"

"From me." A man comes out from behind the group.

Thomson grabs a large knife from a rack on the wall, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in the Underwood?"

"Well, my name isn't important, but I'm a member of the White Fang and I came to provide some provisions for the people here."

"The White Fang isn't welcome here!" The woman cries, "It's faunus like you that have caused all this!"

"The humans started the war, we agree to peace on terms of equality and this is where it gets us!"

"The White Fang have decided to make the humans keep their promise."

"Now, I have given you these supplies in exchange for some of your people coming to join the efforts of the Fang."

The woman interrupts, "Jeremiah! How would you agree to something like that?!"

"We barely have enough to get by, and they have promised more provisions as long as some of us go with them."

"And you think we'd let some of our own go and fight for a cause they don't believe in?"

"I think that's everyone's choice, he isn't forcing anyone to go with him."

Most of the people who were off in what looked like sleeping quarters had come in to see what all the yelling was about.

"How many will come fight for the Fang!" The White Fang soldier cried.

Several of the people started to walk and stand to either side of the man.

The boy stands and begins to walk toward the White Fang member, "You will not be going with them!" The woman said, pulling him back by his collar.

"I'm going!"

"If your mother says you can't go you have to stay." The soldier remarks.

"She isn't my mother! My mother was killed by those filthy humans!" The boy cried.

"Then come with us, let's get revenge for your mother!"

The woman keeps her hold on the boys collar, but he shakes her off.

"Good, you're determined, you'll make an excellent fighter." The man says turning and walking off, motioning for all those willing to follow.

"Come up here by me boy." He says to the boy.

"What's your name?"

"My name is James, James Taurus."

"Nice to meet you James, you said your mother died, but where's your father?"

"He left my mother before I was born, I don't care what happened to him."

"Well then, we'll help you avenge your mother's death, and help the faunus here too."

"Sounds good."

The scene fades to only the people walking as I turn to face Shad..James, who had fallen to his knees, clutching his head.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but having to remember your entire childhood isn't exactly easy." His appearance slowly becoming less shadowy.

Before long, he had taken an appearance I was quite afraid he would take, one that looked quite similar to Adam.

"How long was this before you died?" I said motioning to the people walking behind us.

"A couple years I think, I was 15 in this memory."

"Do we need to keep going or do you think it will come to you?"

"I want to keep going because who knows how long it will take me to remember on my own."

I keep looking him over, slightly scared of what this development might mean, he saw my expression, "What is it?"

"You look a lot like someone I know."

"And?"

"You share his last name too."

"Since we're in your mind sort of, can you show me?"

I think of the last time I saw Adam and a figure pops into existence beside me.

James jaw drops, "He looks just like me…"

"I'm assuming your father had another child, but he doesn't have ears like you."

"These came from my mother, she was a panther faunus, but my father was not." Gasping at the ears now on top of his head.

"You can remember that now?"

"I remember my childhood now, basically everything before the day we just saw."

"It can't have been pleasant given what we just saw."

"I never met my father, and my mother was murdered when I was seven by humans while she was out getting some food for the two of us."

"I was brought to Underwood shortly after that, and I only really left when we were super desperate for food, other than when I left for good."

"James…" I say causing him to look towards me, "Are you sure you want to continue? We don't know what could be next."

"I don't want to continue… I need to continue."

"If you're sure." I say triggering the semblance once more.

This time the James in the memory looked slightly older, but not by much.

He was in what looked like a training area, surrounded by droids.

We both watched as his past self cut through droid after droid using what looked like an oversized cleaver.

"Session end." A familiar voice called out.

The man from before had come into the arena, "James my boy! How have you been?"

"I've been quite well mentor, what brings you here?"

"To put it bluntly, I'm here looking for candidates for a new program the Fang is initiating, and you were one of the first I thought of upon arrival."

"New program?"

"Yes, they're looking for strong individuals to undergo a sort of dust enhancement therapy, the researchers claim it could increase an individual's strength and endurance to levels unheard of."

"There has to be a catch."

"Unfortunately, the procedure doesn't work one hundred percent of the time, and could very well kill someone if they aren't strong enough."

"I'm assuming by the fact that you've come to me that you think I have what it takes?"

"I do, you're stronger than most people twice your age, so I think you could manage it."

"How long will it take?"

"From what they told me, it can vary, but it will definitely take at least a few months."

"Do you think that they are telling the truth? It seems a bit far fetched to me."

"I see no reason the researchers would lie to us, and with how we are looking towards more aggressive methods, we need someone to be successful."

"I'll do it, I don't have much to lose anyway."

"I'm confident you won't have to lose anything regardless." Letting James go past him.

But the memory centralized on his mentor as another person walked up behind him, "You must hate that boy to put him through what you're about to." The masked man told James' mentor.

The man sighed, "I don't hate him, but as he said, he doesn't have much to lose."

"If he survives, he is going to want your head."

"He can have it if he helps us destroy those human scum."

The scene deforms leaving me confused, " _How were we able to stay with his mentor even though it was James memory?_ "

James saw my expression, "You just as confused as I am?"

"I'm just curious as to how we stayed with your mentor after you left considering it was your memory."

"I'm assuming there is more going on here than meets the eye."

"That didn't give us much, let's keep going." Triggering the semblance once again.

I instantly felt nauseous because of the sight that came back into focus.

It was James, except his entire body was covered in scabbed over skin, scars, and what looked like injection sites.

He was strapped to a medical trolley, and it was beyond clear he was in immense pain.

A man in a white coat walks into the room, I shudder from my own experiences with people in similar attire.

"And how are we doing today?"

"Fuck off…" James gets out weakly.

"Now, now you signed up for this whether you like it or not."

"Your health seems to have stabilized over the last several days, and some of the higher ups think it's time for the final step."

"What final step?..." James chokes out.

"Well, we came across some research that would suggest we could ingrain dust even more deeply into your body, and all it takes is you starting the process."

"I can barely walk, you think I could do anything like this?"

"This procedure is simple, and all it takes is you sitting in a certain position."

"Whatever, get me there and I'll do it." He says, clearly hoping for it to end his pain one way or another.

Several more white coats came in, one was pushing a wheelchair.

They practically threw him into the chair, and he was wheeled out of the room into the hall.

The room they pushed him to looked like large living room, but looked completely empty.

Then the lights were turned on, and sitting to one side was James' mentor.

"Mentor, what are you doing he…" James says before realizing that his mentor was bound and gagged.

"What's going on here?"

"Unfortunately, you haven't been the most successful test subject and as a result, we need to get rid of you."

"What's he doing here?"

"He knows about our little experiment, we couldn't let him tell everyone about what happened to you, or else we would lose our funding from the Fang."

"For all the Fang knows, you've been highly successful, and we've sent you out on several missions already."

"We get rid of you both, say that it happened while you were on a mission and we are in the clear."

"You bastards!"

"Of course that's not the only benefit, this procedure should give me both of your auras power without any of the side effects." The scientist says, lowering James onto the floor.

"Now let's see here." He says looking into the journal in his hands.

I take a closer look only to be horrified, the Grey family crest adorned the front of the book.

" _That must be my father's, but I never saw him use a journal that looked anything like that._ "

Meanwhile, the man had drawn a transmutation circle, one more complex than any I had ever seen.

"That should do it, bring Lock into that circle over there." The scientist called out to his lackys standing just outside the door.

They drag the unconscious body of James' mentor into another part of the circle.

"Now all I should have to do is stand at the center of the circle…" Putting himself into the circle's center.

"Let's begin shall we…" He says smugly while pressing his hands to the chalk lines beneath him.

The circle began to glow, electricity arcing off the transmutation circle's matrix.

Then all three of their auras popped to live, James being clearly larger than the others.

Suddenly aura started flowing from the other two men into James, "What?! That should be going to me! I'm at the center of...the...circle." the man says, dropping to the floor.

I gasped in realization, " _It meant the alchemical center!_ "

James was glowing with power, but it was clear something wasn't right.

James skin started to disintegrate, blood freely flowing from every area missing skin.

The blood didn't look right, it sparkled as if it had dust…

My suspicions were confirmed when the burn dust in his blood caught fire, spreading across his entire body and the room.

"GET OUT! HE'S GOING SUPER NOVA!" One of the other researchers called out as if this was something they were expecting all along.

The room was getting hotter and hotter, and James' aura was still expanding.

Then his body gave out, the aura burst outward with the force of a bomb blast, coating the room in fire and sending flames throughout the entire facility.

The scene started to fade, but not before I caught a glimpse of the remains of that journal.

The front cover was open and the page was burning, but I caught the words,  _"Home, many leave their marks there."_

The scene completely fades, leaving me next to a broken James.

"I told you it wasn't going to be pretty."

"What was the point of all that? What did they gain?"

"I'm pretty sure they were using you as a glorified lab rat, but their research had to have been destroyed in the blast."

"What did that man try to do?"

"It was an alchemy transmutation, but I'm not sure what type."

"From what I could tell, it was an attempt to fuse you and your mentor's auras into his own, but he put you into the alchemical center of the circle by mistake."

"They had infused your blood with burn dust, which amplified your aura's power significantly at the cost of a potential detonation."

"When your aura spiked upon receiving so much energy from the other two, it caused the burn dust to become unstable."

"The result was nothing short of a dust bomb blast."

"I remember the feeling of being more powerful than I'd ever been, and then the worst pain I had ever experienced."

"I'm assuming being a human bomb isn't pleasant."

"It wasn't, but who was doing this research? It was clear they weren't directly White Fang the way that guy was talking."

"I'm not sure, a lot of stuff isn't adding up correctly, but I don't have anywhere near enough information to start putting the puzzle together."

"We'll have to get some more pieces then."

"Those pieces aren't going to be easy to get…"

"Being put through three years of continuous experimentation wasn't easy either, but I made it here from that, I think intel gathering won't be too hard in comparison."

"So you were eighteen when you died?"

"Yes and no, it never felt like I died, but more like I was simply transferred to another place."

"That would line up with what the Truth said, it could have something to do with the fact the transmutation never finished, and the large amount of energy produced when your aura imploded."

"The two combined might have opened the portal, your soul fell through, but you didn't have a physical form to return to."

"Sounds really complicated, I'll leave that part for you to figure out, so we done?"

"I don't know, try manifesting your aura."

"Since we're in my portal, it should only need a connection to your soul in order to manifest."

He does it and a blood red color surrounds him, " _It must have been discolored by the dust._ " I thought, noting the shade matched the burn dust I'd seen Weiss use in the past.

"Even my aura was colored by that dust…" He said, looking slightly disheartened about the whole ordeal.

"I'm not sure how that translates outside of here, so I wouldn't be too down about it."

"Let's get you back to your friends then."

"I have to help Shade first."

"I don't mind." Shade says, popping into existence beside the two of us.

"Really? You sounded quite annoyed about it before we left."

"From what you two saw with James, I think I can wait."

"I can't say I don't see your point, talk to you both later?"

"Sure, just make sure you don't get the two of us mixed up when you talk to us." James says, chuckling.

"I'll try, no promises." I say, flashing them the peace sign.

* * *

" _Good God, that's a headache._ " Is my only thought upon waking up.

" _I must have used a lot of aura with James._ "

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" I hear Weiss through the wall.

" _Something has the Ice Princess all worked up._ " I think as I walk over to the RWBY dorm.

"That is the problem!" Blake responds as I open the door.

"You do realize that you're defending an organization that hates humanity don't you?"

"The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

I walk over to Ruby, "What exactly did I just walk in on?"

"Weiss made a remark about a faunus we saw while out in Vale. He had stowed away on a ship and Weiss made a comment about him going and joining up with the White Fang."

" _She promised me she wouldn't judge based on someone just being a faunus, technically she didn't, she judged because of him being a stowaway._ "

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake retorts.

"Why do you think they hate humanity so much?"

"It's because of people like Cardin, people like you that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!"

"You want to know why despise the White Fang?"

"Why I don't trust most faunus?" I sighed, knowing she was talking about me and my sister not being apart of the most.

"They've been at war with my family for years. War, as in, actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted on its back for as long as I remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, entire train cars full of dust stolen. Everyday my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood."

Me and Ruby both walk over to her, "Weiss…" Ruby gets out.

"NO! You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they are a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well, maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake snaps.

Ruby and Weiss both looked shocked, "I…" Blake mumbles before running off.

"Blake!" Ruby says, running to the door after her.

"Weiss, this isn't the way she wanted you to find out." I told her.

"You knew?!"

"Of course I did! Me and Yang both did, but Blake wanted to tell you when she was ready and we respected that."

"She worked with the people who have been trying to kill my family for decades and you didn't tell me!"

"Weiss, there is more to it, she wasn't the only one…"

"Wh…"

She looks around and realizes there is only one more faunus in the room, "Sierra? How could you?"

"I never said it was my choice!" Slightly tearing up at some of the memories.

"You want to know how we escaped the facility we were in? The White Fang invaded the place, Matt and I stayed behind to fight while Kurome and the others got out. I watched as Matt fell into the collapsing pit of the building and I couldn't defend myself against the White Fang, so I was captured."

"I made an agreement with one of the members, I would be his partner for a year in exchange for my freedom after the time was up."

"I went through hell, and I will never forgive myself for the things I've done!"

"All Blake wanted was revenge for her father's death, and I know exactly how that feels."

"She never wanted to go down the path the Fang went, but she didn't have a choice!"

"She left the White Fang years ago, but she was so scared of what you'd think she left before she could even say that!"

She looked at me, clearly shocked I said as much as I did, "I didn't know, but I do now and I'll take that into consideration."

"Just like that?"

"What can I say, you're a very influential speaker."

I look over to Ruby, "What do you think about this?"

"You said she left right?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all I need to hear, she clearly doesn't think what they were doing was right; otherwise, she would have stayed."

I look to Yang, "Since the cat's out of the bag, I'm going to go get your kitty cat back."

"Really?" She said giving me the most blank expression I had ever seen her have.

"I've been holding back, and that's all I've got to lighten the mood."

"In all seriousness, you all need to get some shuteye, I can go out looking for Blake."

"What are you talking about? If we are going to look for her, we're doing it together."

"Also, what makes you think the three of us need sleep more than you do? You don't look as if you've had much sleep."

"I've gone with none for nearly a week and been decent in a fight, I think I can manage to go without one night to find my friend."

"No, we're going with you."

"I'm going to find her, you guys get some sleep, I've got some stuff I need to think through anyway."

"If you insist…" Ruby says climbing up onto her bunk, "But if you need us, our scrolls will be on and if you can't find her, come back and get some sleep."

The other two don't look as satisfied, "I'll be sure to call if I find her and I'll get some sleep once she's home."

"Do you mind opening the window?"

Ruby looks at me funny, "Sure…"

She opens it, I grin slightly as I run and jump through it, it doesn't take me a second to whip out my wings and push off towards Vale.

"You should have taken their suggestion, your aura got depleted quite heavily when you were helping me earlier." James comments.

" _I want to talk to Blake first, I need to tell her about you and see if she knows anything from her time with the Fang._ "

"I'm not sure if bringing up the Fang with her is a good idea right now."

" _I know, but I have to start somewhere and given her previous position she might know something._ "

"I would be careful how it's brought up, but you're going to have to find her first."

" _I can try sensing for her aura, but she has probably hidden it so we can't find her until she wants to be found._ "

I land on a building just outside of Vale, and start trying to focus on her aura.

" _Shit… I can't concentrate._ "

"I told you that you needed some sleep."

" _It's not lack of sleep, I need to tell you something about what happened to you._ "

"What?"

" _The notebook that the man was getting the transmutation circle from was my father's, and there was a note on the inside for me._ "

"Why would those people have your father's research?"

" _That's what has got me so confused, it was clearly a personal thing if he put a note for me and my siblings in it, but he just lost it?_ "

"You're right, this really isn't adding up, but we're going to need more information before we jump to any conclusions."

" _Let's focus on finding Blake, I'm not going to let Team RWBY down._ "

I spent the remainder of the night scouring Vale for any trace of Blake, but came up completely empty.

The sun was starting to come up when I decided to head back, " _I guess we'll need their help after all._ "

I flew onto the dorm roof, trying my best to be as quiet as possible when landing.

I walked to the cafeteria, grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast, and went back to my dorm to wait for what remained of Team RWBY to wake up.

" _I hope Blake's ok, she has to have been upset._ "

I jump out of my skin when someone starts to knock on my door, " _The sun just came up, who's up at this hour?_ "

I open the door to find myself face to face with Ruby, "Ruby, I didn't think you'd be up this early."

"By the fact she isn't in her bed, I assume you didn't find Blake?"

"I searched Vale twice over, didn't sense anything like her aura, so she must have it hidden."

"You went over Vale twice? There's no way you got any sleep." She says frowning slightly.

"No, but I'll be fine Ruby, don't worry about it."

"You're apart of Team RWBYS right?" She asks.

I nod in response, "Well as soon as we find Blake, your orders are to get some sleep."

I salute her, "Yes ma'am!"

"The others are ready to go as well, let's get going." She says in a really serious tone.

" _She's gone into leader mode, I don't think it will take us long to find Blake._ "

No one spoke until we reached town square, "Guys, I think we need to split up to cover more ground, so I'll go alone using my semblance, Yang and Weiss, you can go with Sierra."

"I could just use your semblance to run around a bit." I comment.

"I can tell from your voice you're exhausted, there's no way you could keep up that much aura."

I let out a small yawn, "You're not wrong."

"Yang, Weiss, keep her out of trouble, I don't know how well she would do in a fight like this."

"You can count on me sis!" Yang exclaims grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

"Do you think Blake is okay?" I say to the others after an hour of us walking along in silence.

"I think she's scared and wants to prove Weiss wrong, this all started when we saw a dust shop that had been broken into on our way through Vale yesterday."

"Weiss said it was the Fang, but Blake couldn't see the Fang robbing a store like that for no reason."

"It's not like I could have known she used to be a part of the White Fang, but I think she just wants answers as to why they were robbing the store."

"I guess that's Blake for you, but I just don't want her to get hurt going on her search for answers, I've done so too many times to let others follow in my footsteps."

"We'll find my kitten and bring her home, no problem."

A couple more hours go by, "No problem huh?" I say in my most sarcastic tone.

"I said no problem, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy."

"Kinda does."

"Sorry for underestimating how well my kitten can hid…" She gets out before being interrupted by an explosion.

" _Oh, no._ "

The three of us look at each other and nod before taking off running towards the sound of the explosion.

We arrive on the docks to find Blake and another faunus taking on Torchwick.

"Is the person Blake fighting with friend or foe?" I ask Yang, drawing my swords.

"He's the faunus Weiss insulted yesterday, but I'm pretty sure he is on our side."

I turn my head slightly when I hear the sound of footsteps on a neighboring rooftop, I look up to see Ruby and another girl standing on top of the building.

" _She must be friendly if Ruby isn't engaging her._ "

" _James, you ready?_ "

"I recall you saying I shouldn't help you when you fight."

" _I'm pretty much shot on aura, so a quick resolution to this fight would be great._ "

"I don't want to take over, but I will warn you if you're getting dangerously low on aura."

" _If you're sure._ "

I hear the familiar mechanical sounds of Crescent Rose extending, "Hey!" I hear Ruby call out.

"Oh hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Ruby, are these people your friends?" The girl next to her asks.

" _Something isn't right about that girl's aura, it feels off._ "

"Penny, get back." Ruby responds

I see Roman grin and quickly fire off a round at Ruby.

Crescent Rose flies from her hands as she gets thrown back by the blast.

"Ruby!" Yang and I yell.

I see Penny jump down and look like she's ready to go on the offensive, "Override: Whiteout." Roman calls out.

Instantly, Penny locks up, completely frozen before curling up into a ball on the ground.

" _She's an android?_ " Remembering my father saying something similar to one of the droids that he let us train with.

White Fang reinforcements drop down from their ships and surround Blake and the other faunus.

Ruby jumps down and stands beside us, "What happened to Penny?"

" _She's an android, Atlesian from the sound of that override code, but I don't know if Ruby or the others need to know that yet._ "

"Not sure, but I don't think she'll be much help now." I say looking over at her in a fetal position.

"I'll transmute a wall in front of us, you guys flank around it." I say to the others.

"You better stay back Sierra, you cannot have enough aura left to protect yourself." Ruby comments.

"I'll try to, but I won't hesitate to come help if one of you needs it."

I transmute the wall just as the soldiers start to let loose with their rifles, the others charge around while I hang back.

I peak out from behind the wall to watch, Weiss and Yang were taking on the soldiers around Blake, while Ruby had engaged Torchwick.

"Come one Red, fight like you mean it!" Roman brags, easily deflecting Ruby's attacks.

Then he takes aim with his cane, the shot clearly charged with a large amount of aura, and fires it straight through Ruby's abdomen.

"RUBY!" I say, running at Roman, swords at the ready.

He smirks and once again pulls the trigger, I feel the round pass through my leg, but I don't even waver in my charge.

Both of my swords clash against his cane, I throw him back, "Since you two are both occupied, I think I'll go have a bit of fun with your friends." He says moving towards the others.

I consider pursuit until I look over and see Ruby surrounded in a pool of her own blood.

I rush over to her, quickly performing a transmutation to seal the wound, but it was clear something else was wrong.

"She's running out of aura, if she doesn't get some soon, her organs will start to fail." James tells me.

I start giving her some of mine before James stops me, "You will die if you try and give her anymore of your aura, you're running on empty too."

" _I can't let her die, I've too many people I love go, she isn't going to be one of them!"_

I look over and see the Fang have encircled the others, slowly the circle around them was getting smaller and smaller as the Fang and Roman closed in.

" _We have to do something!_ "

"What? We're out of options!"

Something in me clicks, " _James, we need to be together, fight as one being!_ "

"What are you talking about?"

" _The Truth said I'm a conduit for you guys, we need something we can both agree to use our power for."_

"We don't have anything to lose…"

I stand and close my eyes, " _Let's fight as one!_ " ( **A/N: Kill la kill's Don't lose your way starts playing.** )

Then I felt a power unlike anything I'd ever felt before, my aura expanding more than I'd ever thought it could.

I let out a primal roar as my aura continues to skyrocket.

I watch as all the White Fang, Roman, and the rest of Team RWBY turn to look at me.

My aura switches to a gold color, I switch my hair to match it, and put my eyes to match James' aura color.

I lean down and press my hands to Ruby's abdomen, give her some of my newly found aura, and bring her into a bridal style carry against my chest.

I walk towards Roman and the others, the soldiers all looked as if they wanted to run, but couldn't.

I walk past them all and put Ruby into her sister's arms, "She should be fine, but I'd take her to Beacon's infirmary just in case." I said giving her a reassuring smile.

I turn to Roman, "You're fight is with me now, if you attempt to harm them as they leave, I will not hesitate to kill every single one of your men."

"Sierra, we're not just going to…" Blake says looking at me wide eyed, staring at my head for some particular reason.

I interrupt her, "You are, I can handle this."

The circle opens up and Team RWBY walks out towards Vale.

"Now, where were we?" I say, still surrounded in my glowing aura.

"Open fire!" Roman yells as he runs towards one of the dropships.

The men instantly do so, the dropships above providing additional fire, but none of it even touches me.

" _This is incredible!_ "

"You can say that again! Even my power up from before feels like nothing!"

I start to use Ruby's semblance, running behind the soldiers hitting them on the back of the head with the hilt of my sword.

All Roman would have seen is a blur as all his men drop to the floor unconscious, and his reaction shows he saw just that.

"I said where were we, I didn't mean for you to include all of them."

The dropship he had called for came to rest behind him, "Really? We were just getting started."

I run up, cutting the engines off the wings with aura coating my blades, backflipping down to put my swords to Roman's throat, "You hurt Ruby, you've hurt Vale, now I'll hurt you."

"Fine, but if you don't let me go, your sister dies."

I go wide eyed, "Where is she?!"

"I'm not just going to tell you that now am I sweetheart?"

"All you need to know is if you let me go, she won't be harmed."

I grimace at the thought of letting Torchwick go, but I wasn't going to let my sister be killed.

I pull my swords back, "Get out of here, and know that I'll be coming for you if you even touch her."

"Oh I've done much more than that." He says as he jumps into the new ship that lands in front of us.

"You bastard!" I yell, forming an aura blast with my hands.

"Let that go and she dies!" He yells out as the ship flies away.

I scream in frustration and turn to shoot the blast off to sea.

I let my aura drop back to normal, but wince as I realize I didn't heal my leg.

I start the walk towards Vale with one hand covering the wound and notice Blake and Weiss standing just off the edge of the docks.

"I thought I...told...you...to...go." I say before falling forward onto the pavement.

"SIERRA!" They both scream in unison as I black out.

* * *

 

I wake up in a hospital room, I try to sit up, but instantly regret it as I feel the pain from my leg.

"They said you'd be waking up anytime now." Ozpin says sitting in a chair to the side of my room, sipping his coffee.

"What's up?"

"I think that should be my question to you."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't seen them have you?"

"Seen what?"

He hands me a hand mirror, I look at myself and gasp, a pair of black cat ears sit atop my head.

" _These look just like…_ "

"Mine, I think this is what that Truth thing was talking about when he said your physical form might be altered." James comments.

"Do you know how this happened?" Ozpin asks me.

"I'm pretty sure, but it's a long story."

"That's not what I'm really concerned about, what happened at the docks?"

"They sort of go hand in hand, but the basic idea is that I combined my aura with someone."

He looked confused, "From what Team RWBY has told me, you just spontaneously generated a massive aura, no one assisting you."

I go to speak, but James jumps in, "I can explain it to him if you want."

" _Sure, just use Blake's semblance like you did earlier._ "

"I think I'll let him explain."

I watch as the clone slowly morphs into James and Ozpin looks collected, but I knew he was totally freaking out underneath.

"Hello sir, my name is James Taurus, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sierra who is he?"

"The explanation isn't worth the effort, but he's the one who allowed my aura to multiply the way it did."

"He doesn't have a physical form to channel his aura, so I'm basically a connector to his aura."

"He doesn't have a physical form?"

"No, I'm using Miss Belladonna's semblance to project an image of myself to you."

"I'll explain it all later Ozpin, but right now I need to know, how's Ruby?"

He sighs, "She's fine, her wounds and aura seem completely stable, but they're running a couple tests just to be safe."

"Thank God…"

"Though I'm pretty sure you've got other things to be worried about."

"Like?"

"The fact you let Torchwick escape when you clearly had the advantage."

"He has Kurome Oz."

"You're positive?"

"No, but his cane using an ignition circle means he has her or Matthew and he threatened her life to make me let him go."

"I'll look into it while you recover, but there is a representative from the AHH here as well."

"What about?"

"You don't realize the magnitude of your aura expansion do you?"

"No, I was trying to save Ruby…"

"You outclassed the world's top ten hunters…"

I interrupt him , "That's powerful Oz, but I don't see what the big deal is…"

"Combined."

"You're lying."

"No, you were off most charts, the Association wants to know how they could replicate it."

"It has to do with my alchemy, and for all intensive purposes, cannot be replicated."

"What do you mean?"

"It cost me an arm, I have no idea what it would cost someone else." I say slightly tearing up remembering that corpse I made.

"Tell this representative I have no intention of speaking with them."

"I doubt he'll take no for an answer, but I'll have him removed from Beacon if he declines to leave."

"Thanks Oz, are the other members of RWBY around?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I was going to tell them you have woken up." He says looking down typing into his scroll

"But before they get here, I want you to promise me something." He says looking back at me.

"What Oz?" I say, slightly taken aback by him asking for a promise.

"Don't get yourself killed, your brother and sister will need their family here for them when we get them back."

"I won't promise anything, but I will try my best to stay alive." I tell him as he walks out, closing the door behind him.

A couple minutes later there was a knock at the door, "Come in."

Blake, Weiss, and Yang all walk into the room, but before anyone says anything, Yang pulls me into a hug.

"Thank you for saving my sister's life, I don't think I can ever repay you."

"Don't worry about it, I'm a huntress-in-training, comes with the title."

"We're all curious about those." She says standing to point at the ears on top of my head.

"It would be easier for you to just meet the person behind them."

They all look confused, but then I let James take his shape.

Blake and Yang instantly arm their weapons at the sight of someone who looks like Adam, "It's not Adam! That's really rude of you both!"

They both lower their weapons as he speaks, "My name is James Taurus, I'm Adam's half brother from my understanding of it."

"To make the long story short, I'm a physical body that he can channel his aura through since he doesn't have one."

"The side effect of my first time doing this is my new ears, they match his." Both of us wiggling them for effect.

"I think you got a bit taller too, I noticed it when you were stumbling towards us earlier." Weiss comments.

"So you're not just going to get another trait every time you do it?" Blake asks.

"No, I was told it would happen the first time, so this should be it."

"The changes don't bother you?"

"I was a freak before, metal arm, wings, cat ears and me being a bit taller aren't that much of a bother in comparison."

"Do me a favor Sierra?" Yang asks.

I nod, "Switch your hair and eye color to match Blake."

I do so and she giggles, "You two could be sisters!"

I pick up the mirror and take a look, " _She's not wrong._ "

Blake takes her scroll and puts her head beside mine, "Say cheese!"

I smile and she snaps the picture, "I'm totally keeping this."

"In fairness, I used to do it to match with Weiss all the time when we'd play together."

"I remember those days, Kurome would be the knight, you'd be the ice dragon, and you guys would fight over me."

" _And I'd always let her win._ "

"Enough about that, how's Ruby doing?"

"The doctors let her go up to the roof for some fresh air, but I think they're still making her stay overnight to be safe."

"Can you take me to see her?"

"I'm not sure if the doctors will let us…"

"I'm going to see her, I will blink up there on my own if I must."

"They've left a wheelchair, so I can wheel you up there." Blake agrees.

"Blake I'm not sure…" Yang comments.

"At the moment, she looks like she's my sister, so I'm not going to deny my sister."

She helps me into the chair and starts pushing me out into the hallway.

I drop the color on my hair and eyes before Blake tells me, "You're on the news by the way."

"Seriously?"

"Aparently your aura was so bright it could be seen from the town square, The AHH is supposed to give a statement later."

"I wonder what they're going to say given I told their representative to shove off."

"Do you even care?"

"Nope, not one bit."

"Good, you've got other things to be focusing on."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I can tell her Blake."

"You don't have to, but I will tease you to no end if you don't, especially after you shoved me at Yang to make me tell her."

She wheeled me up the ramps to the roof and opened the door, "I can take it from here." I tell her, implying that she should go.

"I'm sure you can, go get her panther."

"Ha, ha, very funny kitty cat."

I wheeled myself over to where Ruby was sitting, her legs dangling over the edge.

"That's dangerous you know." I say.

"Sierra, I thought you were still asleep…" She says as she looks back towards me.

She then notices my new ears, "What happened?"

"It's a really long story, but the simplest way to put it is I have cat ears now."

"The others told me what you did, and it's all over the news."

"You saved my life, and the others too."

"As I told Yang, it comes with the job, don't worry about it."

"They won't bother you right?" She says looking back at my ears.

"Not in the slightest, I was a freak before, these don't really change that much."

"You're not a freak!"

"Don't you dare think that!" She says grabbing my hands.

"You're one of the prettiest girls I've ever met."

I blush, "You think so?"

"Nearly dying today made me think about some things, so I wanted to tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"IkindalikeyoualotandIwantedtoknowifwecouldbemorethanfriends." She blurts out before covering her mouth.

"What?" I ask, hoping I'd heard her right.

"I understand if you don't like me that way and I'll get over yo…" She starts to backtrack before I grab her and pull her into a kiss.

At first, I thought I was too forward, but then she leaned into me, deepening the kiss.

" _Forget I said that experience earlier today was incredible, it's nothing compared to this._ " is my only thought while kissing her.

We break it after what seems like hours, the two of us out of breath.

"It was rude of me not to answer your question." I say with a smile.

"I liked your response better."

"I came up here to ask you to be my girlfriend, so I want to do it properly."

I look her in the eyes, "Ruby Rose, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I asked you first didn't I?"

"And I answered…"

"Then I guess I'll answer too." She says, pulling herself into my lap and kissing me.

"SO CUTE!" Blake calls from the doorway.

"I thought I told you I could do this on my own!"

"It's better it was me and not Yang," She said, "I was sent up here to inform the patients that they need to get their rest."

"Five more minutes?" Ruby asks her.

"I guess you can have that." She says, turning back towards the door.

"But you better be down after that or Yang will have a fit."

"Tell her she's in good hands, but if you tell her about what you just saw it won't be pretty." I yell after her.

An alarm goes off on Ruby's scroll, midnight.

"Happy birthday!"

"I still can't believe you asked Ozpin when my birthday was."

"Is it that hard to believe after everything?"

"No, but you could have just asked me."

"Either way, I know now, so when do you want to celebrate?"

"I would say lunch, but something's come up and made me rethink that." I say smiling at her.

"How about the two of us go out for lunch and then we celebrate your birthday and our relationship with everyone for dinner?"

"Sounds fantastic."

"Aren't you going to be stuck in a wheelchair all day?"

"I maybe could have healed it once I woke up, but I might have gotten an inch of height in addition to the cat ears and didn't want to make it awkward."

"Great, you were taller than me before, I guess I'll have to start growing to keep up."

"You're fine, you're only fifteen."

"Only for like a month, then I'll be sixteen." She says, puffing out her cheeks.

"You're too cute sometimes."

"We'd better get down there, or Yang will think we're up to something." She says.

"It's only been three minutes." I whined.

"You're so needy."

"I am not!"

We sit there staring into the night sky, then Ruby beings absent mindedly rubbing my cat ears.

It feels really good, and then a rumble escapes my throat, I blush, "Sierra, are you purring?" Ruby says giggling.

"Maybe, I didn't even know I could do that…"

"Now I'm going to have to rub your ears all the time because that is too cute!"

"We should be getting back…" I say, trying to get her to stop.

"Ok, but you better have something good planned for our lunch date tomorrow." She says, standing beside me, but she leans back to kiss me on the cheek.

"Can you wheel me down?"

"You said you could heal yourself."

"Actually, I want you to try it."

She looks at me wide eyed, "You trust me to do that?"

"You're saying I shouldn't trust my girlfriend?"

She blushes slightly at the girlfriend comment, "I can try."

I hand her a piece of chalk from one of my pockets, "Now you should be able to do this on your own now, but I'll tell you if something's up."

She draws the circle on the ground and rolls my chair so my leg is positioned above it, "You ready?"

"Always."

She presses her hands to the circle, and in a blink of an eye, I stood to hug my girlfriend.

"You've got this stuff down, and it only took three lessons!"

"I've done some studying on it while you weren't helping me."

"I didn't know you needed more help."

"I just wanted to know more, and learning it on my own is pretty fun."

"I don't have to worry about you trying anything right?"

"No! I was just curious and wanted to impress you…" she says mumbling the last part.

"I hope you realize I have two set of ears, so I can hear you."

I walk her to her room, and quietly say goodbye so Yang wouldn't get too suspicious about our behavior.

I go back to my own room and lay on the bed, "Happy Birthday." James comments.

" _Thanks, but as I've said before, I really don't like to celebrate my birthday._ "

"This is a new chapter in your life, don't forget about your mother, but I know she wouldn't you to mope every year for the rest of your life, especially on your birthday."

" _I never thought about it that way, but you're right._ "

"Get some sleep, you've got a date tomorrow."

" _You had better not interrupt during said date._ " I told him, pulling the blanket up to cover me.

Once again, trying to sleep without Ruby next to me was really difficult.

I woke the next morning to find the doctor ready for me to sign my release papers, " _I have to get ready._ "

I blinked to my room, and quickly got one of my summer dresses out, " _This should work._ "

" _I'm glad this was big on me."_ I thought, noting the extra height didn't hurt my figure at all.

I did my hair up in a ponytail and threw it over my shoulder.

" _What about my ears?_ " The thought of some faunus hater ruining our date flashed through my mind.

" _I wonder…_ " I think, quickly cloaking them with my aura.

" _That should work, but I still have some time before lunch._ "

I just decided to walk around a bit, but I didn't expect to run into anyone, until I ran into Pyrrha(literally.)

"Sierra! It's been a while." She says, helping me up.

I'm level with her, which is a change from me being slightly shorter than her.

"You're all over the news, "The girl with the strength of ten hunters!""

"I couldn't have gotten a cooler name than that?" I ask her.

She notices my being dressed up, "What's the occasion?"

"I've got a date for lunch and then I'm celebrating my birthday with Team RWBY later."

"Who got lucky enough to go out with "the girl with the strength of ten hunters"?"

"Ruby…" I say, slightly blushing.

"Good for you, I thought you'd never find out."

"What?"

"Ruby was crushing over you hard, I caught her doodling you in Oobleck's class."

"Really? I'll have to ask about that later." I say with a slight giggle.

"Oh shit! I'm going to be late! Gotta go Pyrrha!" I say, turning away while waving.

"Have a happy birthday!" She calls.

" _First one in a while, but happy none the less._ "

I run to the RWBY dorm and politely knock at the door.

"Hey Sierra, you here for her?" Blake says answering the door.

I nod and Ruby walks to the door, she looks absolutely stunning in a simple skirt and blouse.

"I think I'm a bit overdressed for a first date." I comment.

"It's fine," she turns back to Blake, "I'll send you guys plans for dinner, bring your gifts with you."

She gives Ruby a salute, "Yes, ma'am."

"You're really serious about planning my birthday huh?"

"I let you plan our first date, so I thought I'd take some liberties on planning for your birthday."

"Why do you have your ears cloaked?" She says noticing the lack of ears atop my head.

"I didn't want anyone to ruin our date because I'm a faunus."

"I wish I could tell you that wouldn't happen."

"Someday it won't, but today isn't that day unfortunately."

"So where are we off to?"

"You'll see."

We took an airship to Vale, and started walking through town square.

We passed the docks, and made it to our destination, "The pier?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

"It sounds great, I haven't been in ages."

We walked over to some of the games along the side, "Would either of you lovely ladies like to try the ring toss?" One of the vendors asked, juggling several rings between his hands.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot." I tell him, grinning slightly.

I give him a dollar, and he hands me three rings.

I miss the first one, still confident I throw the second one, I scrape the edge of one of the bottles, third one gets it right on the money and goes straight onto the bottle.

"Good job, pick your price!"

I look over and see a small plush beowolf, "I'll take the beowolf please."

He hands it to me, "Excellent choice."

We walk away and I present it to Ruby, "I got you something."

"It's your birthday, you should have it."

"The only reason I played was to win you something, so it would be a waste if you didn't accept it."

"Ok."

She cuddles it a bit, "It's so soft."

"I'm glad you like it."

We walk around for a bit just taking in the scenery, "This place is really beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." Ruby says giggling.

"That was so cheesy." I say, giving her a big smile.

We grab a bite to eat from one of the vendors on the pier, "Were your gnocchi good?"

"Fantastic! Thank you for recommending it."

"My mom always made it for us, I've never had any that was anywhere near as good as hers."

"Do you miss her?"

I sigh, "Yeah, but James…"

She gives me a curious look, "Oh I forgot to tell you, I help Shadow get his memory back, his name used to be James."

"But he says that my mom wouldn't want me down every year on my birthday, so I've been trying to think happy thoughts today."

"Here let me give you another happy thought." She says leaning in for a quick kiss.

"Thanks, you're the best."

"What do you want for dinner?"

"We just had lunch, are you in that much of a hurry?"

"It's not that, I need to tell the others where to meet us."

"There's a seafood place not that far from here, I really want some fish."

Ruby starts laughing, "What?"

"You and Blake both with your cat ears and fish."

I kiss her to stop her laughing, "I've wanted some fish for a while, the cat ears didn't affect that." I say as I pull away.

"They'll meet us there, Blake says excellent taste by the way." She says looking up from her scroll.

"So what do you want to do next? Ferris wheel or…" I stop talking, noticing one of those test your strength contests off to the side.

A faunus took a swing and got it well over half way up the bar, but a guy grabs the hammer from him, "Let's see what a human can do." The man boasts.

He grabs it and slams it more than three fourths up the bar, "See that's how a man does it." The guys brags to the faunus' girlfriend, "Maybe you'd like to go on a date with a real man instead of this puppy dog."

"Ruby, I'll be right back." I tell her through gritted teeth as I walk over.

I uncloak my ears and tap the guy on the shoulder, "Oh, so another animal wants to give it a go?"

I grab the hammer from him, put a tiny bit of aura into the swing, and slam the disc into the bell at the top.

His jaw drops, "You must have cheated…"

"That metal arm of yours must help some how."

"I don't see why a girl like me would cheat at game like this."

"You're not a girl, you're a filthy…" He didn't get to finish that sentence as Ruby came over and socked him right in the face.

"You even think about insulting my girlfriend again, and I'll make sure you walk away with a couple less teeth next time."

The man gets up and strides away, trying to keep what's left of his ego intact, "I'm sorry I didn't ask that man to leave sooner." The stall manager says.

"Either way, you get a price for winning that bell miss."

I point to the couple that had been standing off to the side, "They can pick one for themselves."

The faunus comes over and shakes my hand, "Thank you for that, you didn't have to get involved like that."

"It's not everyday we meet another human faunus couple, not everyone is okay with that sort of thing." His girlfriend adds in.

I hold Ruby's hand in mine, "I hid my features with my aura before we came across you, fearing something along those lines, but I wasn't going to let someone disrespect another faunus."

"We both appreciate it, we've had to deal with it for three years, and you're one of the first to stand up for us."

"We're both huntresses-in-training, it comes with the job." Ruby says, giving them both her smile.

I notice the man has had his hand in his pocket the whole time we'd been talking, he appeared to be clutching a small box…

I lean over and whisper, "The vendor has got a teddy bear that should be the perfect size for that box… I'm sure she'd love the surprise."

He flushes a bit, but responds calm, "Thanks, again." He says smiling, getting the bear from the man.

Ruby and I start to walk away, "What did you tell that guy back there?"

"Let's stick around for a minute and I think we'll see."

We took a seat on a bench and I watched the man pull his girlfriend aside.

I see her turn the bear over and pull out the box on the inside, Ruby gasps, "He's going to…"

I can see him mouth the words, "Will you marry me?"

Her response was clear, with her jumping up and down, screaming yes.

"You knew?"

"Not before I interrupted, but I saw him clutching the box when we were talking."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"I try, so you want to ride the ferris wheel before we head off to dinner?"

"Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to the pier without it."

We got into the carriage together, both of us looking at the view as the sun was setting over Vale.

"I've had a wonderful day with you Ruby."

"Will there be a second date?"

"Of course there will be!"

"I'm glad, I wasn't so sure I'd get the honor of being with "The girl with the strength of ten hunters."

"I did that to save you and the others, and to be honest, I have no idea if I could do it again even if I wanted to."

"What was it like?"

"It felt like I had limitless power, nothing could stop me."

"But it was nothing in comparison to our first kiss on the roof."

"You called me cheesy, but we should get going or you will be late to your own birthday party."

We walk the block to the restaurant and find the others waiting out in front of the restaurant.

"Are we late?"

"No, but Weiss wanted to make sure we weren't, so we came a bit early."

"With how long it took you to do your hair Yang, I'm surprised we made it here before midnight." Weiss retorted.

Ruby, Blake, and I all laughed as Yang started fuming at the Ice queen.

"Let's go eat, I'm starved." Blake says, pulling us out of our laughter.

We get seated in a corner booth, Blake and Yang next to each other with Weiss in between me and Ruby.

"Weiss, do you mind switching with me?" Ruby asks her.

"Why do you want to switch?" She says, clearly curious.

"Well, there were two things we want to celebrate tonight, one is Sierra's birthday, the other is…," She takes a deep breath, "As of last night, Sierra and I are dating." She says blushing slightly.

"You're dating my sister and you waited a day to tell me?" Clearly angry with me.

"I didn't want you playing overprotective sister on our date today, so I waited until now to tell you." Ruby says.

"That's where you were all afternoon?"

"Yes Yang, I went out on a date, I'm fifteen nearly sixteen and can handle myself."

"You sure couldn't against Torchwick!"

The table goes silent, Ruby's eyes start to tear up, "I know I messed up ok? I didn't need to hear it from my sister!"

She leans into my shoulder and starts crying, "It's alright Ruby, you're ok, you're ok…" I say softly into her ear.

"Yang, that wasn't necessary." Blake says.

"I'm sorry, but you don't know what it's like to think you've lost your younger sister…"

"I know what it's like!" I yell at her, "For all I know, my younger sister has been dead for three years!"

"All of you, stop it!" Weiss exclaims.

"We're here to celebrate Sierra's birthday and her and Ruby's relationship, if either of you have a problem with that, you can leave now." Looking to Blake and Yang.

I look at Yang, "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but Ruby wanted it to be a surprise."

"I just didn't know what you'd say." Ruby says, pulling herself off my shoulder.

"I would have said I just want to know that my little sis is going to be safe and happy."

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure she is both of those."

"And that if you hurt her, I will hurt you ten times worse."

"You won't have to worry about it, if I hurt her, then I'll have James hit me."

"Now that everything's settled, let's get something to eat." Weiss says happy to lighten the mood.

We started chatting, Blake and I both got fish, to the absolute hilarity of the rest of the group.

"It's not that funny." I say, trying to get the rest of my food down.

"I've never asked, why do you always eat so fast?" Ruby asks me.

I freeze, "I haven't always been given large amounts of food to eat, so I eat as much as I can while it's available."

"The researchers at the facility fed us only when absolutely necessary, or as a reward for a job well done."

"I'm not going to pretend like I'm not some sort of monster after all that…"

"You're not, I know you and you're not a monster."

"None of you have ever met the person I was back then, and I don't ever plan on letting that monster out of it's cage."

Ruby hugs me, "You're Sierra, now you're my girlfriend and it's your birthday, what you've done in the past doesn't concern me."

"Thank you…"

"Now that everyone's done, you can open your presents."

They all pull their separate gift wrapped boxes out from under the table, "These are all for me?"

"Of course, it's your birthday silly."

" _It's been a long time since I've gotten any sort of gift._ "

Blake hands me hers first, I open it and find a really nice sketch pad and some pencils.

"You said you were an artist, so I thought you could use some supplies."

"Blake those could have cost you ten dollars, I expected…" Ruby scolds before I stop her.

"No, I would have asked for something expensive if I wanted it, but this is one thing I know I've needed."

"Thank you Blake."

Weiss hands me hers next, I open it to find what looked to be a brand new laptop, "Weiss I said I didn't want anything…"

"It was two hundred dollars on the dot, it was on sale."

"I would have gotten it for you otherwise if you hadn't put a cap on us, but this seemed like something you could use."

"I don't know how I'll use it, but thank you."

"I think you'll find something…"

Yang hands me hers next, it's a really small box and when I open it a pair of keys fall out.

"These look like motorcycle keys…"

"Who says they aren't?" She looks at me grinning.

"You're joking right?"

"Nope, the number on one of the keys is the storage locker number, it's an older one my uncle gave me, but I got Bumblebee so I have no use for it."

"You're giving her Dark Repulsor?! Qrow gave that to you!"

"I told him it wasn't fast enough for me, but he told me to keep it anyways."

"That's totally over the price limit!"

"Technically, it didn't cost me a thing, so not breaking the rules."

"You'd give me something like that…" I get out, not really knowing how to respond.

"Yeah, it's also a big thank you for saving my younger sister, I'm sure Qrow would agree that you deserve it."

"I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't say anything and open your girlfriend's present."

I look and Ruby's holding a box, a bit smaller than Weiss', but definitely bigger than Yang's.

I tear off the paper and open the box, it's a drawing tablet and a stylus.

"Ruby, I've seen this model, they're like a thousand dollars!"

The others looked shocked, "Telling me I shouldn't go over the price cap." Yang grumbles.

"I didn't spend over a hundred, look at the emblem when you start it up."

I turn it on and Ruby's rose emblem flashes on the screen, "You made this?"

"It took some sleepless nights to get it done in time, but I managed to get it done the night before our fight with Torchwick."

"Ruby…" I say before bursting into tears.

"Sierra, what's wrong?" They all ask in unison.

"I don't deserve any of this…"

"I never thought anyone would care about me this much, not after everything I've done." I say, bringing them into a group hug.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say we care about you, two of us are your best friends, one of us is your girlfriend, and the other is your girlfriend's sister." Weiss points out.

"Hey!" Yang objects.

"We're here for you, I'm here for you and I don't have any plans to stop being here." Ruby says taking my chin in her hand and kissing me.

"Gross, get a room you two." Yang teases.

I wipe the tears away, "Thank you all so much."

"You're going to be here for me, which means I need to return the favor."

"Tonight we can celebrate, but tomorrow I go back to being your teacher."

"We've unlocked each of your auras, so now the real work can begin."

"You guys ready?"

They each nod, "Then here we go."

**End Act I**


	11. Fluffy Red and Grey Clouds

"So Ruby were you planning on giving Sierra anything else for her birthday?" Yang says as we're walking home, winking at her sister.

Ruby blushed slightly, but responded calm, "I wasn't planning on it."

"The thing I want most for my birthday right now is some sleep." I say yawning.

"It's been a long couple days for all of us, I think we come all use a bit of rest." Weiss points out.

"How long until the end of the semester, it's a month right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, I get to plan the second date, and I want to have one planned for the week in between semesters."

"Speaking of school, since you and Ruby are dating now, are you going to help her with homework? Blakey has been really helpful with mine." Yang says turning to me.

"I don't see why not, the only other thing I'd be doing is drawing."

"You should really just start coming to classes, they couldn't hurt…" Weiss comments.

"I may start coming to Grimm studies, since now Port will realize I'm not available anymore."

"And if he hits on you?"

"Then I'll hit on him with Crescent Rose." Ruby says, doing a swinging motion with her arm.

"I don't think it would be good for you to fight one of the teachers." Weiss scolds.

"I think I could fight him no problem, it would be classified as a staff duel."

"Seriously?"

"I think I remember reading that in the application papers…"

"You applied to be a teacher first?"

"No, Ozpin did it all in advance, I had no clue I was coming to Beacon until I got a letter from him."

"What would you be doing right now if you weren't "teaching" at Beacon?"

"I might be continuing my alchemy research, or maybe some light Grimm hunting."

"Alchemy research? You seem to know everything there is to know…"

I chuckle a bit, "I'm no where close to knowing everything alchemy has to offer."

" _I know because I've seen it all…_ "

We board the airship to Beacon, "I hear Atlas' students will be arriving at the start of next semester, I'm looking forward to seeing some competition."

I grit my teeth slightly, Ruby takes notice, "What's wrong?"

"If Atlas students are coming, then General Ironwood is probably coming with them."

"You're not a fan?"

"He took over after the man who replaced my father, only he didn't earn it like most generals from Atlas.

"He was promoted to the position, he didn't duel the previous general for the title."

"What happened to the previous general?"

"He was assassinated, shortly after my father."

"Why was your father killed then?, He was retired wasn't he?"

"Yeah, but he basically became an advisor for the next general, that's the reason I'm assuming he was killed."

Ruby puts a finger to my lips, "You can stop the sad talk now, it's your birthday so you need to be happy."

"Trust me, just being with you is enough to make me happier than I've been in a long time."

Yang starts dry heaving before Blake hits her in the ribs.

"What? It's too much cute for me, I couldn't take it."

"Are you saying I'm not cute enough for you Yang?" Blake asks in mock offense.

"No! I'm not saying that!" She says, holding her hands up in surrender.

Ruby, Weiss, and I all start giggling at Yang's quick concession.

We walk back, I start to open my door before Ruby taps me on the shoulder, "Can I stay with you?"

"I don't mind, but I'm not the one you need to be asking." I say, motioning to Yang.

"I'm pretty sure I would be beaten to a pulp if she found us in bed together again."

"I'll ask her then," Ruby says turning to her sister, "Can I?" She says using her puppy dogs eyes.

"Ruby… you two have only been on one date."

"Yang, what do you think is going to happen between us?"

She goes to answer, but Ruby raises her hand, "Never mind, don't answer that, but I can tell you that isn't going to happen."

I give them both a fake pout, pretending to be sad at her insinuation.

Yang moves close to me, "Just know, you touch her in any way that she doesn't want or at all right now for that matter, I'll make sure there isn't a big enough piece of your body for the police to find."

I gulp slightly, knowing she would follow through, "You don't have to worry about that, I love her too much to let myself do anything to her."

"I will be watching Sierra, watching and waiting." She says, slowly inching into the RWBY dorm.

"You're sister is crazy."

"I think everyone is crazy in their own way."

"How am I crazy then?"

"You totally don't have multiple people in your head."

"They aren't in my head! Technically."

"Well, I'm technically better then you because I'm a higher rank."

"Then technically you should be commanding me right now…" I say, switching to a sultry tone for only a moment.

"You did not just say that after my sister lectured you."

"I did, but have no intentions of doing anything other than going to bed."

"Good, because I like my girlfriend in as few pieces as possible."

I strip my shirt off and grab my nightgown, but Ruby stops me as I'm pulling it down, "What happened to your…"

I realize she's talking about all of the scars and what must be mangled flesh covering most of my upper back near my wings, "I'd rather not talk about it right now, not on my birthday and the day of our first date."

"Fine, but I want you to promise me that I'll get the whole story."

I sigh, realizing just how many times I'd promised to tell the full story, but respond, "I will, whenever you want, after today."

"I will be taking you up on that soon."

We both lay down on the bed, she goes in for a quick kiss, "Thank you for letting me stay…"

"Can I be honest with you Ruby?"

She nods her head, "The times you were here with me are some of the only times I fell asleep easily and didn't have any nightmares."

"You make me feel… safe."

"I'm happy I can be the prince to break that curse on you."

"You really liked fairy tales as a kid didn't you?"

She nods again, "I'll get my sister to write us one after I find her."

"She can do that easily?"

"She loved writing fantasy, princesses, dragons, knights in shining armor."

I laugh a bit, "I remember the time she had us act out one of her stories, I was the ice dragon guarding princess Weiss, and my sister was the knight sent to defeat me and save the princess."

"She beat me and kissed Weiss' hand to be comical, but then her dad saw and he basically threw a temper tantrum about the whole thing."

"Sierra, I want to know…"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever think about asking Weiss out instead of me?"

"A long time ago, I thought about trying to start something between me and Weiss, but something changed between us and I haven't thought about it since."

"What? Were you afraid you had some competition?"

"No! I just…" She pauses and I look at her to continue

"I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere, or getting into a relationship with anyone but you."

"It just seems like you two have a history."

"We do, but as friends, not anything more."

She sighs, "I'm sorry for even thinking that way, I just get so jealo…"

I cut her off, "It's fine, it is completely natural for you to feel that way, honestly I'd be more scared if you didn't."

"Thank you…" She says putting her head into the crook of my neck.

I kiss her on the forehead, "Good night my little rose."

Another night with Ruby that my demons seemed to stay at bay, almost if Ruby's kind presence was keeping them all away.

I got up sometime in the middle of the night, got some water, and got back into bed, but not before I heard Ruby mumbling in her sleep.

"She's not going to be late for pictures, is she dad?"

" _I don't know if I should wake her and ask about that… No, I'll ask Yang later, but I can try to comfort her._ "

I start rubbing small circles on her back with my hand, she stops mumbling, and a small smile graces her lips.

" _I'm glad I can help her through her problems as well._ "

* * *

***Time skip: One month***

I awoke only to realize Ruby wasn't in bed with me, I look over and find a note sitting on my nightstand, "Going to Vale with Weiss for a partner day, be back asap, Love Ruby."

I smile at the gesture, " _I wonder what they're up to._ "

**Ruby P.O.V:**

" _I can't believe Weiss made me get up so early for partner day._ " Ruby thought, slightly annoyed the heiress would drag her out just after sunrise.

"Ruby pay attention, we're supposed to be doing something the two of us both have interest in, so what do you want to do?"

"Well first I want to get something to eat since we're out this early, and maybe some coffee."

"I don't know if coffee is the best idea, you're hyper as is."

"I was just giving some suggestions, but in all seriousness, I need something to wake me up a bit."

"Fine, there's a nice coffee shop down the road, Blake told me they have good breakfast as well."

The two walk a couple blocks before coming to the hole in the wall coffee shop, Jamaica Joe's.

The two are greeted by the man at the counter, "What can I get you two lovely ladies this morning?:

"I'll have a frappuccino and a danish, Ruby, what do you want?"

She takes a minute to look over the menu, "I guess I'll have a french vanilla latte and a banana nut muffin."

"Coming right up." The man said, hurrying off to make the girl's orders.

He hands them their order when he finishes making their drinks, "There are some tables outside, it is quite nice out." The man recommends.

The two find a small table outside and start eating, but Weiss notices Ruby isn't as on task as usual.

"Ruby, is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing…"

"Ruby, I'm your partner and your friend, you can tell me."

"It's about the date I've planned for me and Sierra, I don't know if she'll like what I've got planned for tomorrow."

"Which is?"

"A picnic, there's a really beautiful ridge I found when I was training in Forever Fall a while back, and I thought it would be a great spot."

"It seems too simple…"

"Ruby, I don't think Sierra could ever hate what you've planned, she loves you Ruby."

"I know, but I want a way to make the date special and show her that I love her physically, without doing that…" She blushes at the thought.

"You're asking me?"

Ruby nods, "Well, there was an old tradition in Atlas, whenever you would enter a relationship, the man of the relationship would braid the woman's hair, showing that she is in a relationship without doing anything permanent."

"The braid could be easily undone if the relationship didn't work out, but if the two stay together, then the braid was cut off at the wedding."

"The practice of having the braid constantly until the wedding isn't as big anymore, but braiding a woman's hair is considered an display of affection and would show her just how much you care."

Weiss laughs a bit, "Kurome did it for me once, she must not have known what it meant, my father had to hold back yelling at her because Mr. Grey was there."

"Thank you for the advice and the story Weiss, so what do you want to do for partner day?"

"I'm not sure…"

**Sierra P.O.V:**

I was about to turn over and go back to sleep until I hear my scroll beep, "Hello?"

"Hey Sierra." Blake responds.

"Any reason you are up so early?"

"Ruby and Weiss woke us up, they said we needed to do stuff as partners today, but with Yang and I dating, we don't think it's necessary."

"Then why did you call me?"

"Yang wanted to know if you'd be willing to spar."

I raise an eyebrow, "Any reason or just because?"

"I think she wants to beat you, but I don't know whether that is possible."

"In theory, she is the only one on Remnant that could even think about beating me, her semblance would be a serious advantage for her."

"Wait, if you were to copy Yang's semblance when you performed that technique with James, would your power continue to climb?"

"I'm calling the technique Aura Ascension and in theory, maybe?"

"Regardless, she wants a spar, you in?"

I sigh, "My bed calls for me, but I can ignore its cries for the time being."

I pull on a new shirt, my necklace, and my sheaths.

" _I wonder if she's going to hold back at all._ "

"I have a feeling she won't." James comments.

" _Then, do I have your support?_ "

"Of course, I owe you a lot and supporting you is the least I could do."

I begin the walk to the training area, " _I don't know if this is a good idea, doing this indoors._ "

"I don't know if it's a good idea to do it at all."

" _You're probably right, but there's no way I'm backing down from this._ "

"I agree."

I arrive to find Yang arming Ember Celica, the rounds clearly dust infused.

"Isn't that a bit much?"

"No, I want to win this little spar, so I thought no holds barred."

"That's fine by me."

I look to Blake and she comes over to whisper to me, "Please don't beat her too badly."

"Blake, I would love to tell you I've got a good chance of ending this quickly, but I'd be lying."

"I didn't say you needed to be fast, but I don't know who Yang would be without her ego."

"I'll hold back, just enough to level the playing field, I'll leave the rest up to her."

"Thank you, I would say good luck, but I kind of have to support my girlfriend."

"I'd be concerned for the state of your relationship if you were any other way."

I clap and they both turn towards me as I transmute some armor over my normal arm.

"I think I need some hand to hand practice, so I won't be using my swords."

"Really? I want a fair fight."

"I feel like that is what makes this a fair fight." I say, concentrating on aligning with James.

" _Ascension!_ "

"Ascension!" The two of us cry, syncing our auras.

My aura pulses, it's power increasing rapidly.

Blake and Yang both look away until my aura stabilizes and the light dims.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I say, squaring off against Yang.

"Born ready."

She charges first, she tries to go for a fake on the left, but I know the trick and throw a hit from my right to counter.

Our fists connect and the contact causes a brief spark between our auras, Yang being slightly thrown off by it.

I use it as an opening to get in a strong kick to her left arm, she takes the hit using her aura, causing her aura to drop in power significantly.

She fires an ice dust round at my automail with a smirk, but is surprised when the ice simply coats the outside.

"I lived in Atlas, and you thought this would be susceptible to ice?"

"I thought I could at least give you the cold shoulder."

"You're awful." I say as we circle each other.

I take the initiative this time, trying a roundhouse kick to her abdomen, but she manages to grab my leg before I could pull back and uses it to slam me over her head onto the floor.

"Ow." I say, as go for a leg sweep from my lower position.

I get her on the floor, and jump to my feet, moving to dodge as she flips back to her feet.

"I thought you said you needed practice in hand to hand." She quips after seeing my skill.

"I haven't fought hand to hand in over two years, so you can imagine how good I was at one point."

"I think you'll have to teach Ruby then, as good as she is with Crescent Rose, she is bad at hand to hand."

"You're asking me to fight my girlfriend who is also your sister?"

"I'm simply asking if you would be willing to help her out."

"You realize you just gave me permission to hit your sister."

Her smile fades, "You know that's not what I meant."

"What are you going to do about it? Fight me?"

Her eyes flip to scarlet, " _Good, I've gotten her angry, she'll get reckless._ "

She fires several shots, which I deflect with my aura, but have to dodge as Yang had used the travel time of her rounds as an opportunity to press forward.

She takes quick jabs at both my shoulders, I manage to shrug off her right hit, but take the left full force.

"You're not so cocky now are you?" Yang says clearly furious.

"I was never really cocky, but I've always been confident."

I jump and drop kick her in the jaw, sending her spiraling off to my right.

She manages to get a shot off from Ember Celica, getting me in the abs, throwing me back from the center of the room.

The two of us stand, Yang's aura being just above the red, mine still off the charts.

"Yang, this has gone too far, I don't want to…" I start to reason with her, but she is clearly not ready to give up just yet.

She throws punch after punch, each time, I respond by meeting those punches mid-swing.

" _Something isn't right, she's really taking some hits…_ " I think before realizing she had been baiting me into countering her directly.

" _She's been building up power for the past twenty minutes, she hasn't used much of it so far, but that means it's all going into her final attack._ "

She throws everything into that final punch and I get ready to move, but then a voice calls out, "Hey Sierra…"

I turn to see Ruby had come into the room behind me(Completely oblivious to our fight to the death), and I realize that if I dodge, Yang couldn't stop and could easily kill her.

I brace for the impact of the full force of Yang's rage and built up energy, and then I feel myself flying through the air.

The impact with the wall wasn't pretty, my aura taking the brunt of the attack, but it gives out and my wings take the rest of the damage.

"SIERRA!" Ruby cries as she runs over to me.

She braces herself over me as she assesses my wounds, "What the hell were you two doing?"

"Yang asked for a spar, but we took it too far."

"I was purposefully making her angry, hoping to get a better fight that way."

She slaps me, "I can't believe you would do something so stupid."

Blake had calmed Yang down and the two had come to sit next to the two of us, "I should have stopped them earlier, but Yang had insisted before she wanted to do this no holds barred."

Ruby looks to her sister, "Had it been anyone else, you would have easily killed them."

I sit up, "That's why I took the attack instead of dodging, you would have killed Ruby had I moved."

"I know, but I couldn't let you get away with comments like that."

"What did you say?"

"Well, she asked if I would give you hand to hand lessons, and I said she had just given me permission to hit you."

Ruby slapped me again, "Don't make smart remarks like that to my sister."

She moves over to Yang and slaps her, "Don't try and kill my girlfriend."

"As team leader, from here forward, I'm ordering that all sparring matches need to be cleared with me before they take place."

"I can agree with that." Blake says, looking relieved she wasn't told off.

"Oh don't think you're getting off without a lecture, you should have stopped them a long time ago, and I don't care if Yang's ego would take a hit if her girlfriend pulled her out of a fight."

Yang looked slightly miffed about Ruby giving her girlfriend permission to pull her out of fights.

"Ruby, I can take care of myself…"

"I don't care, you have the tendency to be stubborn, so I'm giving Blake permission to stop you."

She then looks to me, "You need to stop picking fights…"

"She started it!" I whined.

"or else I'm postponing our date."

"No, please don't do that."

"Then don't get in anymore fights and you don't have to worry about it."

"Rubes, you really shouldn't blame her, I asked her for the spar."

"I don't blame her, but I want to keep her out of trouble."

"Fine, I won't fight anyone, but only because you asked me."

"Where's Weiss? You were out with her weren't you?"

"She wanted to stop and do a bit of shopping, but I wanted to get back to see how Blake and Yang were doing."

"Which I have to say sis, I'm disappointed you decided to fight my girlfriend instead of spending time with yours."

"Blake and I spend plenty of time together…"

"Not as much as I want…" Blake whispers too low for any non-faunus to hear.

She flushes when she looks over to me and realizes I had overheard her(again.)

Her look says don't say anything, but I couldn't resist, "What was that Blake?"

"I said I would love to have spent the morning with just the two of us."

"That settles it, Yang as your team leader, I'm ordering you to spend time with your girlfriend."

Blake's eyes light up and Yang sighs before pulling Blake into her arms, Blake blushes, "What are you doing Yang?"

"I'm carrying my princess to her room to be doted upon by her valiant knight."

"I didn't know you were a fan of classical literature Yang." I say, noticing the uptick in her vocabulary.

"Just because I don't do well in class doesn't mean I don't like to learn." She says, beginning to walk out the door with Blake held comfortably in her arms.

"And Yang said we were too cute."

I notice that she was looking at Blake before the two disappear around the corner, "Ruby, is something bothering you?"

She turn back towards me, "No…"

"Are you jealous of how your sister is treating Blake?"

"Just a bit." She mumbles.

"Then I guess I need to dote upon my princess then."

"Do you want me to carry you?"

She nods as I pick her up, "Where to m'lady?"

"Bed." Is her only reply.

"As you wish, m'lady."

She presses her head up against my shoulder as we walk, "I never thought I would be the princess in the fairy tale…"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I was always the knight, saving the innocent from harm and protecting the princess."

"You can carry me if you want." I say, blushing slightly.

"There's no way I could lift you…"

I stop dead in my tracks, "Ruby Rose, did you just call me fat?"

"No, but you're so much bigger than me."

"I'm actually quite light for my size, my bones are lighter because of my being a bat faunus, I wouldn't be able to fly if they were normal."

"So do you want to try being the knight?"

"I suppose there is no harm in trying."

I put her down and she extends her arms for me to lie down, and she scoops me up underneath my knees.

"Wow, you are really light." She says, moving me up and down as if I weighed nothing.

"Stop Ruby, this is embarrassing." I say, my face matching her cloak in color.

"Then I'll have to do this more often, you're really cute when you're embarrassed."

"Hurry my knight, I fear the cries of my bed have grown unbearable to me."

"Of course Princess." She says, starting to use her semblance to run us to my room.

I have to be blushing even more than before, " _I'm her princess._ "

She lays me down on the bed and pulls my combat boots off before laying herself down next to me.

"So what did you and Weiss do on your partner day?"

"More like partner hour, we went and got some breakfast, and then we decided to just walk through Vale as something we both had a common interest in."

"That was the best you could come up with?"

"No, it was just one of the first, and neither of us are really acquainted with Vale all that well."

"You don't know Vale?"

"Not really, Yang and I are from Patch, so I haven't seen all that much of Downtown Vale before now."

"I can't say I know Vale all that well either, but I need to go out at some point and get your uncle's bike."

"I still can't believe Yang gave that to you."

"I'm happy to share with you little rose."

"Little rose?"

"I don't know, but I think it fits you."

"So your nickname for me is a short joke?"

"No, you're not even that short, you're taller than Weiss."

"That's not much of a compliment."

"I'm going to tell Weiss you said that."

"Don't, we just had partner day!"

"I wouldn't dream of telling her if you didn't want me to." I say turning to her with a smile.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, just lying with you is great for me."

"You need to stop, or my face might just stay red." I say, blush still coating my features.

"Oh I know! Can you draw me?" She says, her eyes lit up in excitement.

"I've never drawn with a tablet before, so don't expect something super well done." I say, grabbing my new tablet that I hadn't gotten around to using.

"Get comfortable, I have no idea how long this is going to take with me learning as I go."

The software wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be to learn, and before long, I was almost done.

"How much longer?" Ruby whines.

"Maybe five minutes, I told you this might be a little longer than expected."

Not even two minutes later, "There done."

I turn the tablet towards her, "How did I do?"

She gasps at the sight, "That's incredible! I've seen pictures of me that look less like me than that."

"My Oum, Ruby stop making me blush!" I say, the red tint once again coating my features.

"I'm sorry, but it's just so good."

"Thank you…" Was the only thing I could think to say.

"You're the only person outside of my family I've ever drawn for."

"You should draw more, maybe you could do something while the tournament is in town."

"I'm going to be in the tournament, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have outside of training."

"I don't think you need much training, just do that thing and bam, most people would just give up."

"I've called the technique aura ascension, and I have no intentions of using it during the tournament."

"Why not?"

"The whole point of the tournament to give everyone an even playing field to show off their abilities, ascension would just shut out the competition, where's the fun in that?"

"I guess that makes sense…"

"So are you going to be entering?"

"Of course! And I expect to see you in finals with me."

"Arrogant are we?"

"Not arrogant, confident."

"Sounds like something I would say, so Miss Confident, can I get a hint about what we're doing on our date tomorrow?"

"Nope, I'll give you all the details when I come to get you tomorrow."

"Are you going out somewhere before?"

"Ozpin asked that team leaders come see him about potential assignments later in the second semester."

"Team RWBYS first actual mission as huntresses in training, sounds fun."

"No actual assignment yet, but he says one should become available within the next several weeks."

"Tell me beforehand, I have to make sure I'm not going to be away."

"Where would you be going?"

"My old house, I promised myself I would go back every year and put flowers on my mother and father's graves, but it takes a couple days since I tend to stay for a while."

"You go alone?"

I sigh, "For the past couple years, I haven't had anyone to go with, even if I wanted someone to be there."

"Would you let me come with you?"

"I wouldn't want you to miss classes just after the semester has started, Weiss would have a fit."

"I'm sure I could talk her into it, she would understand."

"Ruby, it's not something I really want other people to see…"

"Why?"

"I've always blamed myself for killing my mother...twice, and then I wasn't good enough to save my dad…"

"You can't blame yourself, your dad made the choice to save your sister."

Tears started to roll down my face, "And I wasted his sacrifice! I've probably lost her and my brother, and to top it all off, I let Roman trick me into thinking he might have her alive to use as a bargaining chip against me."

She pulls my head against her shoulder, "You don't know whether either of them have died, but that should encourage you to keep looking."

"Yang hasn't once stopped looking for her mother, and she's been gone for almost her whole life."

"You'r...no we're going to find them, and that's a promise."

I sniffle a bit before replying, "Don't make promises like that Ruby, you don't know if…"

She puts her hand underneath my chin, "We will, I know we will."

"Now, whether you decide to take me with you is still your choice, but it can wait if you're not sure."

"The only thing that is definite right now is our date tomorrow, if you're still up for it of course."

I smile, "Of course I'm up for it, it would be rude of me to cancel on the second date."

"Quick question, did you have anything else to do today?"

"No, partner day was supposed to take up more time for me, so I didn't think to plan anything else."

"Then, do you want to go to bed early?"

"Seriously? It's only three o'clock."

"I know, but neither of us have other plans, so why not?"

She sighed, "If anyone else asked me, I would have said no, but you are my girlfriend."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, I just don't have anything better to do."

"It's fine by me, come here." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

She presses up against me, allowing me to put my head into the crook of her neck.

"Why do you always smell like roses?"

"I think it's my aura and semblance, could never tell you why though."

"I like the smell, so don't stop it if you figure it out."

I slowly nod off with Ruby stroking my hair as I fall asleep.

* * *

Waking up next to Ruby is one of life's greatest gifts to me, it allows me to smell the roses without having to move an inch.

I start to get up, only to get pulled back down by Ruby's iron grip.

"My kitty cat doesn't get to go before I want her to."

"Kitty cat really?"

"If you get to call me little rose, then I get to call you kitty cat or batgirl, I can't decide which one is better."

"I am totally going to be Batgirl for halloween now."

"I don't think you should do that…" I give her a questioning look, "You're much cooler than Batgirl already, I think it would be a downgrade."

"HaHa! Didn't blush this time!"

"Good for you, but I have to ask you something."

"Do you want us to have another lunch date or would you prefer a dinner date?"

"Let's mix it up and say dinner date."

"Fine by me, so be ready by the time I come to get you."

I watch her grab her cloak off of the chair and throw it over herself, "You're not going to change clothes before going to meet with Ozpin? Those clothes look like you slept in them."

"I was going to change in my dorm for your information Mom."

"It was just some advice." I say as she walks off.

"Hello Sierra."

" _Hi James, what's up?"_

"Well, Ruby said her birthday was in a couple weeks right?"

" _Yeah…"_

"I think you should put some work into your gift, considering how much time she put into yours."

" _I see your point, but I don't know what I could do for her._ "

"Ask Yang, she would probably have some ideas."

" _I guess there's no harm in asking._ "

I manage to pull myself out of bed and throw on some clothes before walking over to the RWBY dorm.

I walk in to find Blake reading a book while sitting in Yang's lap.

"Blake, nice space heater you got there."

"I won't lie I enjoy the warmth, what's up?"

"I was actually here to talk to your blonde heater."

"What about?"

"Well, Ruby said her sixteenth birthday is a couple weeks, and after all she did for my present, I wanted to get her something special."

"Anything weapon based will work, some cookies…"

I glare at her slightly, "What? Other than that, she doesn't really have any other niches."

"I'll figure something out then, but there was something else I needed to ask about."

"The first night Ruby stayed with me, she starting talking in her sleep, she said something about someone missing pictures."

Yang's face instantly went solemn, "She's still having nightmares about her then."

"We were supposed to have a family photo taken the weekend Mom came back from the mission that…"

"You don't need to say more, but you never had a family photo?"

"Not with all four of us."

An idea popped into my head, "Do you have a picture of your dad you could send me?"

She gave me a curious look, "Yeah, but what are you planning on doing?"

"As long as you promise not to spoil it for Ruby, I'm going to paint a family portrait of the four of you."

"I don't know, but I think she would love it."

"It's the least I can do in exchange for what she did for me."

Yang puts a hand on my shoulder, "She made that for you as a gift, don't think you owe her something because of it."

"I don't, but I want this portrait to be just as special."

"Just make sure you keep it under-wraps while you're working on it and it will make her even happier when she finally sees it."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks for your help Yang."

I walk back over to my room, and quickly order all the supplies I would need for the paintings.

With that done, I couldn't believe how bored I was, and decided to take a quick trip to the library.

I pick up a couple murder mysteries, a light sci-fi novel, and several comic books.

"You never struck me as the comics type of gal." James quips.

" _Just because I'm a badass doesn't mean I can't enjoy some comics from time to time."_

I go back to my room and curl up in my recliner, hoping to finish all the murder mysteries before Ruby would come to pick me up.

I slam the final mystery cover shut just as Ruby walks in, "Well look who's been trying to beat Blake in a book reading contest."

"I only finished three books, and that's only because they're murder mysteries and I figure out who the killer is without having to read to the end."

"So you ready for that date?"

"I thought you would never ask."

* * *

"Did you like it?"

"Like it? I loved it! This spot has such a great view of the sunset, and the homemade chicken salad sandwiches were soo good."

"Thank Blake for that one, she gave me the recipe."

"I'll be sure to do so."

Ruby shuffles around behind me, at first I thought she was just going to get something out of the picnic basket, but then I feel her hands run through my hair.

"What are you doing?"

"Hold on, you'll see in a minute."

I feel the light tugs on my hair as she works with it, " _Wait, is she?_ "

I finally realize what she was doing, "You're braiding my hair…?"

"I asked Weiss about something I could do to show how much I care, she suggested this."

"There done." She says, pulling a little mirror from the picnic basket.

I gasp at the sight of my hair braided, rose petals intermixing with the braid.

"It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful."

"This is the first time I've worn a relationship braid."

"I don't know if I'll ever have hair long enough for you to do me."

"Don't worry about it, I think short hair suits you."

"Well I can't say you wouldn't look good if you went for the short haired look, but I think I like this better."

"I do too, if this means I love you too."

"Rhymes instead of puns now?"

"Nah, I'm still just as batty as before."

"Shut up." She says as she pins me to the picnic blanket with a kiss.


	12. Old Friends and New Revalations

"Hey Sierra, you need to wake up."

I sit up at the sound of Ruby's voice, blinking as the sun shines through the window at me, "What is it?"

"Ozpin just made an all call for staff to report to the entrance hall, Ironwood has arrived."

"This isn't going to go well."

"No matter how it goes I have to get ready for class, but I hope you'll come to Grimm studies, the team would appreciate it." She says kissing me on the cheek.

"I'll try, but something tells me Ironwood has a very specific reason for asking all the teachers to be there."

"I'll see you later then." She says as she pulls the door closed.

I grab one of my nicer dresses, hoping to look professional next to the other professors.

I leave my braid in, though Ironwood would more than likely know exactly what this braid stood for.

I hide my ears of course, not wanting to give him anything else to use against me.

I walked to the entrance hall to find all the other professors, including Ozpin, were already present.

He turned to look at me, "That is certainly an interesting braid Sierra."

"You know what this stands for Oz, don't patronize me."

"You didn't have to be here, I'm aware you aren't fond of Ironwood."

"He gets on my nerves, but I am still a teacher here whether I like it or not."

The double doors open, revealing the general with several Atlesian droids.

"Greeting staff of Beacon…" He starts, only to stop when his eyes fall on me.

"Who is this?"

"She is our advanced combat instructor, perhaps you've heard of her…"

"My name is Angel Sierra Grey."

His eyes widen, "I was under the impression all of Jonathan's children perished in a house fire."

"I was also under the impression that teachers at any of the academies in Remnant needed to be fully qualified huntsman and huntresses."

"I was under the impression you could only become general in Atlas if you dueled the previous one." I snap back.

"Why you little…"

"James and Sierra, this is not the time or place for this." Ozpin says as the other teachers look between me and Ironwood.

"Why would he have come if he didn't know I was here? That's the whole point of this little venture of his, if I've assumed correctly."

"Your little stunt at the docks a couple of weeks ago certainly didn't deter my thoughts of coming for the tournament."

"I also wanted to be sure that it was made clear that "the girl with the strength of ten hunters" will not be allowed to participate in the tournament."

"What justification do you have for having her banned from the tournament?"

"It is clear her abilities exceed that of other students, her participation would discourage other students from entering."

"James…"

"Ozpin, I would prefer to discuss this in your office if you don't mind."

"You're just going to cut me out of this conversation like it doesn't pertain to me at all?"

"Yes, you're a child and an arrogant child at that."

"James, we won't be discussing this further, your insults against Miss Grey have proven to me you are looking out for your own interests, not the tournaments."

"As such, she will be allowed to participate in whatever capacity she sees fit."

"You're letting your relationship with this child cloud your judgement Ozpin."

"All things considered I'm not, there is a lot that you've asked me not to say to her that has stayed between us up until now, but your actions have made me see it's wrong to keep things from her."

"What are you talking about Oz?"

He looks around at the other teachers, "You're all free to go, I need to finish my conversation with Miss Grey and the general."

The other teachers slowly disperse, leaving the three of us alone in the entrance hall.

"Ozpin, you're making…" Ironwood tries to reason.

"I very seriously doubt this is a mistake, if anything, not telling her was a mistake."

"Miss Grey, are you aware of Atlesian law regarding military succession?"

"Well, the only real rule I know is that you have to duel the previous general for the title of general."

"That's true, but there are rules regarding the appointment of a successor."

"One of those being that any general, past or present, can appoint someone in their will to allow said person to be granted the right to duel the current general for his title."

"You were appointed in your father's will for the right to duel."

I blink at bit, "You're joking right?"

"Not at all."

"Then why wasn't I informed when I went to the AHH after escaping my kidnappers?"

"That would be Ironwood's doing…"

I glare at Ironwood, "You seriously had the AHH hold this information from me?"

"You were scared of me, a seventeen year old girl?"

"I wasn't scared of you, I was scared of what might happen if you gave a seventeen year old girl full control over Atlas' military."

"Unfortunately for you, the two are one and the same, if you were confident in your own abilities, you wouldn't have had any problems preventing me from taking power."

He growls, "It's not like my concerns weren't justified, I can only assume from your braid you're in a relationship with a student here, how unprofessional."

I go to retort, only for Ozpin to interupt me, "James, Miss Grey is allowed to be in whatever relationship she pleases to be, she is seventeen and her relationship has had no effect on her ability to teach students."

"Already, she has unlocked four student auras, and has already given those four proper training and is now preceding with another team."

"Considering your school doesn't even offer students the chance to learn such advanced techniques, I appreciate the amount of effort Miss Grey is putting forward."

"You have no right to comment on what my school does and does not offer Ozpin."

"And you have no right to criticize a member of staff from mine."

A small beep sounded from my scroll, Grimm studies was starting in five minutes.

"Ozpin, I need to go, Grimm Studies is starting soon…"

"She's a student here as well?!"

"Miss Grey wants to have the title of huntress to allow herself more opportunity when looking for Grimm hunting positions, she has already passed her exit exams and once she finishes her mission time she will be a fully qualified huntress."

"None of this was her doing either, I'm sure if it were up to her, she would be searching for her missing siblings with every waking moment."

"I put through her application papers, so if you're mad at someone James it had better be me."

"I won't be the one who's mad, the council will be the ones you should be worried about." He says, walking away in a huff.

"You didn't have to stick up for me like that Oz."

"I am practically your uncle, if I didn't, what kind of person would I be?"

"Aren't you worried about what the council is going to say?"

"I don't have to, I sought out their permission for your position before I contacted you."

"They agreed that having a teacher with as much experience and special training as you have was a wise decision, even if you were only sixteen."

"Is it that hard to believe that a teenager could be responsible enough to be a teacher?"

"For some, yes, for others who know some of what you've been through, absolutely not."

"I promised Ruby I would try my best to get to Grimm Studies, so I have to be going."

"Of course, and Sierra…" He says as I walk off.

I turn back to him, "I think it goes without saying you should be careful around the general."

"I will be, don't you worry."

I made my way to Grimm Studies as quickly as I could, reasoning that Port should understand why I don't have my uniform on.

I make it into class just after the bell rings, "Ah Miss Grey, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I'm here as a student today professor, but I hope you understand my tardiness." I say, bowing slightly.

"Completely understood, please find a seat."

I look to see Team RWBY waving at me from the back of the class, smiling, I run up to join them.

"I'm glad you came, I'm assuming Ironwood made you late?" Ruby asks.

"Yes, and I want you fours opinion on something."

They look at me, "Ozpin has informed me that I can challenge Ironwood to a duel…"

Weiss gasps, "You don't mean for his position as general do you?"

"That's what I mean, apparently my father left it in his will that I be allowed the right, should I accept."

"You want to know whether you should accept or not." Blake guesses.

I look at the four of them, my eyes telling them Blake was correct.

"If you became general, we wouldn't be able to date anymore right?" Ruby asked me.

I nod, putting my head in my hands, "I could never leave you Ruby, which is why this is such a problem."

"My father wanted me to have the chance to do this, and I don't just want to throw this opportunity away."

"But at the same time, I have responsibilities here at Beacon and I've made some promises I intend to keep."

"Well then, fight him and leave him as general, say you'll take the position later." Yang suggests.

"I don't think I want the position, it would take too much time away from me being a huntress with you guys."

"And even more importantly, time away from being a proper girlfriend."

"If you don't want the position, then why should you even bother fighting him?"

"Because my father is basically telling me to do it, he put it in his will to allow me to do it."

"Is it only you? It seems like an opportunity you would give to all your children." Blake questions.

"I assume that it is only me, I haven't looked at the will itself though, so I guess it could just say one of my father's children."

"But even if I wasn't the only one listed, neither of my siblings are here to duel him."

"Then just leave it alone for now, and if Kurome or Matt wants the position, duel him and then hand it off to one of them." Weiss suggests.

"Ok, if you insist…"

"Miss Grey, what was the topic I was just discussing?" Port says, trying to catch me not paying attention.

"It was the reproductive pattern of Nevermores." James comments.

"The reproductive patterns of nevermores sir."

He huffs slightly, "Very good Miss Grey."

The others look at me, "You were paying attention that well while we were talking?" Blake asks.

"I wasn't, James was."

"That's totally not fair, you don't even have to pay attention in class to get a good grade." Weiss complains.

"Hey, it isn't all good, he has access to all my memories and thoughts whenever he wants."

"And why would that be a bad thing Sierra?" Yang asks, grinning like a maniac.

I flush slightly, "It's just kind of weird to think someone else knows what I'm thinking at any given time."

"Though, I know if you had someone in your head you couldn't look at Blake anymore."

She instantly clams up, blushing, while Blake smacks her over the head with her book.

"Is that really all you think about when looking at your girlfriend?" Weiss quips.

"No, but I get Sierra's point now." Yang says, face still slightly red.

The bell rings after about an hour, "Good, I thought this lecture would never end. You four up for lunch?" Yang asks as we're walking.

"I know I am, meeting Ironwood made me miss breakfast."

"JNPR should be there as well, seems like fun." Ruby comments.

The five of us sat across the table table from JNPR, Nora firing peas at Yang to have her catch them with her mouth.

"Yang, do you mind some of us are trying to eat here." Weiss says, slowly eat her lunch.

"Come on Ice Princess, have a little fun once in a…"

"I've got it." I hear Nora yell as a pie hits Weiss right in the face.

"Weiss, please don't do anything rash here…" I say, knowing the heiress would want payback.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Ruby says, looking at the rest of us.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Team RWBY cries as they arm themselves with various foods.

" _Should a teacher be joining in a food fight?_ " I think to myself for a moment.

" _No, but I'm not teaching at the moment._ " I think as I smile.

"Hey, count me in!" I call after them.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle…" Nora calls out from the top of her fortress of tables.

"Justice will be swift, justice will be painful, it will be delicious!" Ruby yells in her typical leader fashion.

Team JNPR starts throwing melons, Yang intercepts the first few, I throw up a table to block a few that are coming for me, Ruby, and Weiss.

"Ruby, throw me some apples!" I yell.

I grab the three she threw at me, load them into my arm, and fire at Jaune.

He doesn't even see them coming as he gets pelted from the side.

I watch Blake engage Pyrrha, the two locked together with baguettes.

I use my aura as a flash bomb, throwing Nora off balance while I roll a melon at one of the tables at the base of her fortress.

The tower begins to shake as it collapses, Nora regaining her senses and jumping off the top.

I move towards Blake and Yang dodging several attempts from Jaune to stop me.

I get back to back with Yang, "You thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask her.

"Sun dragon storm?"

"Yep."

I clap my hands and transmute a small tornado surrounding me, I grab Yang's arms and start to spin.

"Three...two...one…" I time as I let Yang go, hitting Ren with the full force of our resident sun dragon.

Ren and Yang continue fighting, as I hear a loud crack from the other side of the cafeteria.

I turn to see Weiss dropping to the ground after hitting the wall, while Ruby runs to catch her.

"Weiss!" I hear her call out.

I feel a gust of wind, and watch as Ren is pummeled through a table by Yang.

I see Nora running at her, a melon attached to a metal pole in her hands.

"Yang watch out!" I call to her.

She turns and charges, but Nora changed her swing into an uppercut, sending Yang through the roof.

Nora and Pyrrha turn their attention to Blake, I try to use Blake's semblance as a diversion, hoping they would take the bait.

Nora didn't seem to care about my little trick, choosing to simply ignore my shadow clones, and go on the offensive against Blake.

I see her grab several soda cans from the floor, using them like grenades, pelting Blake.

I feel a spike of aura and watch as Pyrrha begins using her semblance to pick up the remaining soda cans that had been scattered all over the floor.

I copy her semblance, I only manage to make a small bubble around myself, while Blake takes a number of the cans head on.

I see Ruby stand, a determined look in her eye, and brace herself in preparation for a run.

Her aura spikes, I can smell the rose scent from where I'm standing, and I watch as she pours on her semblance full speed.

I slam my fist into the floor to brace as the tornado of food that is my girlfriend rockets past and straight towards Team JNPR.

They splatter onto wall, all coated in various foods and drinks.

The doors to the hall slam open, revealing Professor Goodwitch with her usual scowl and Ozpin looking collected as usual.

Goodwitch uses her semblance to reassemble the cafeteria, "Children please, you do not play with your food."

She turns to glare at me, "Miss Grey, I need to speak with you about your conduct in this matter."

I hang my head slightly as I walk over, while Yang crashes back through the ceiling and lands with the others.

Ruby sees me walking away and quickly rushes over, "Is Sierra going to be punished for participating in the food fight?"

Goodwitch goes to speak, but Ozpin puts a hand on her shoulder, "Not this time, though I would expect her to be more mature in future, as she is a

teacher at this academy."

"No, I should be punished for this, as you said I'm a teacher here, and as such, I should have stopped this or at the very least not participated."

"I think you were acting as a student having fun with her friends, since there was no harm done, I see no reason to punish you."

"Though next time, you will receive punishment, if not from Ozpin, from me." Goodwitch adds.

"I understand, come on Ruby, let's go get cleaned up." I say as I walk past the two professors.

I listen as I walk arm in arm with my girlfriend, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." I hear Goodwitch say.

I pull on Ruby's sleeve, causing her to stop while I listen, "And they will be, but right now they are still children, so let them play the part, it isn't one they'll have forever."

"My niece is a prime example of that, her childhood consisted of the loss of her mother and vigorous training, not the most ideal childhood."

"Then the accident that cost her arm, the loss of her father, and her kidnapping, all in less than seven years."

"After everything, she has proven herself to be mature and cold when she needs to be, but light hearted and compassionate when that exterior is shed."

"I don't know what happened to her arm, nor what she went through while kidnapped, but I know that she has stayed strong through all of it."

"The fact she still wants to be a child and have some fun makes me hopeful for her future."

"I think you're being sentimental, though I can see your point."

I start to walk again, "What did they say?" Ruby asks after we'd been walking for a minute.

"Nothing important." I say as a single tear rolls down my cheek.

"Personal?" She asks.

I nod as we keep walking, and shortly after, I'm in the shower trying to get watermelon out of my hair.

"Tell Nora we shouldn't use melons next time!" I yell out to Ruby, attempting to get clumps of fruit out of my hair.

After about five minutes of trying(and failing) to get the fruit out of my hair there is a knock at the door.

"Need some help?" Ruby called in.

"I don't see how you could help me right now."

"Give me one minute…" She says as I hear her go out of the room.

About a minute later, the bathroom door opens to reveal Ruby wearing a two piece swimsuit.

I had instantly covered myself with the shower curtain, "What are you doing Ruby?"

"Helping you out, now let me see your hair."

"But Ruby, I'm…"

"You're also my girlfriend, and I've seen you without most of your clothes on before."

I shrink back, "If you're that uncomfortable, just keep the shower curtain around you, I'll just get the watermelon out of your hair."

She stands in the shower behind me, slowly going through my hair, pulling out the bits of fruit.

"How are you so good at this?" I ask her.

"Yang is my sister, knowing how to work with hair is mandatory."

I feel her stop going through my hair, and I can almost feel her staring at my exposed upper back.

"Ruby, stop staring please."

"I'm sorry, it makes you uncomfortable?"

"I can't say I'm the most confident when it comes to my body, after everything that's happened to me, it feels like I'm a patchwork of a human being."

"My arm, my back, they don't feel like they're mine anymore."

"Then let's change that, dry off and come into the room."

I do as she asks and come into my room in only a towel, only to find it pitch black.

"Ruby, what are you…" I ask before feeling a piece of cloth slide over my eyes.

"Just let me guide you."

She grabs my hand and pulls me over to the bed.

"Ruby, I gave your sister my word we wouldn't do this."

"Do what?" She asks innocently.

I feel the edge of the bed and lay down on my back.

"Turn over." She instructs.

I do as she says and I feel her start to undo my towel.

"I was serious about what I said Ruby, I'm not about to break my word to your sister." I say, getting ready to stop her.

"We're not doing that, trust me."

She finishes undoing the back side of my towel and positions it to where only my upper back and wings are uncovered.

I gasp as I feel something press against my back, "Ruby, are you kissing my scars?"

"Kisses make the pain go away right?" She says with the most childlike innocence for what she is doing.

She continues, pressing her lips to every scar, after tracing each one with her fingertips.

"Ruby, please stop...it hurts." I say, tears in my eyes.

"No, it doesn't, you thinking that just proves to me you need to talk about it." She says, not once stopping what she was doing.

She reaches the one on my wing, the one I gained the night of my escape, and traces it over and over again.

"Ruby, stop, every time you do that I see my brother falling…"

She kisses it, I spin and slap her, "I TOLD YOU TO STOP GOD DAMN IT!"

I instantly shrink back from her, "Ruby I…"

"No, you told me to stop and I didn't…"

The tears start rolling down my face, "It just hurts so much…" I cry as she brings my head to her shoulder.

"You're alright now, those are in the past."

The door burst open, "What happened…" Weiss asks, before seeing the state I was in.

"I was trying to get her to talk through her scars, apparently she has some really bad memories with them." Ruby says as I am still crying into her shoulder.

"What did you do?"

"I traced each one with my fingertips, I wanted her to know I still cared about her even if she had some scars."

"She has one on her wing that she linked with losing her brother, I'm no expert, but that doesn't strike me as the best way to cope with loss."

"And making her cry isn't the best way to fix it either."

"That wasn't my intent, I didn't know how bad it really was."

"From her yelling it sounded like she had asked you to stop more than once, why didn't you?"

"Because she needed it, I didn't want her to keep it all in."

"And why do you even care Ice Queen?"

"The two of us have been friends for a long time, and she has helped me more than people who've been with me my entire life. All I'm doing is returning the favor."

"Both of you stop." I croak out.

"Weiss, it's alright, I didn't realize just how badly I needed that."

"I've needed to work through my loss, but I just bottled it up, hoping it would just go away."

"My mother, father, brother, sister, all losses I tried to fix or just leave behind."

"Ruby made me realize how foolish I was to do that, and made me think about all of them."

"Thank you Ruby, thank you." I say, suddenly very tired, passing out on Ruby's shoulder.

**Ruby P.O.V**

" _Did she just?"_ I thought before I feel her breathing even out.

Weiss is just looking at the scene, neither of us really know how to react.

"Well, I can't say I saw this coming..." I say, slightly confused by the development.

"Lay her down, cover her up, and let's go over to our dorm, I'm not done talking to you."

I lay her down, pull the blanket over her, and kiss her on the cheek before turning and walking out with Weiss.

I open the door to our dorm to find myself face to face with my sister, "Ruby, why are you in a swimsuit?" She asks.

"I helped Sierra get some watermelon out of her hair."

"She was in the shower wasn't she?" Yang asks, clearly ready to go beat up my girlfriend.

"Yes, but she didn't ask for my help, I offered it, so you can't get mad at her."

"What was the yelling about?" Blake asks.

"That's not your concern." I say, knowing that my sister would want Sierra's head after what she let me do.

"She was kissing all of the scars on Sierra's back." Weiss says, clearly annoyed with me.

"What? Ruby Rose I'm gonna…" Yang exclaims.

"You're gonna what? And it's not like you have any room to talk after everything you've pulled."

"She's right Yang, and she wasn't even doing anything that bad." Blake comments.

"Was she wearing anything?" Yang asks.

"She was in a towel, the only thing I could see was her upper back and her wings so you need to stop prying."

"She made Sierra cry, the yelling was Sierra telling her to stop for the third time."

"Are the scars really that painful?" Yang asks.

"No, but she linked them to the events that caused them, so she was seeing the things that caused them as I was tracing them with my fingers."

"Sis, you shouldn't take matters into your own hands, especially when it's something you don't know how to deal with."

"That's what I was going to say earlier, you said it yourself, you're not an expert. Causing her to relive events like that can't be good for a person." Weiss scolds.

"Weiss, that's actually one of the best things you can do, but it has to be done a certain way." Blake comments.

"Since when are you a psychology expert?" Weiss whines.

"Since I read a lot of psychology books, being off mission in the White Fang is quite boring in comparison to medical journals."

"Then was the way Ruby doing it correct?"

Blake sits up, "Well, I'm not sure, none of the texts had the person bind bad memories to the injury."

"More than likely she needs to work through them, this is one of the first phases, so if you keep going it will get easier for her."

"You should explain all this to her when she wakes up, and if she agrees, then you should try at least once a week."

"Ruby, if she agrees, I want your word you will stop the second she says it hurts her." Weiss says, almost pleading with me.

"I give you my word, but I know she will feel better after it's all said and done."

"Who will feel better?" A voice says from the door.

We all turn and see Sierra in a really long t-shirt and some short shorts.

**Sierra P.O.V**

"Who will feel better?" I ask after overhearing some of their conversation.

"I thought you fell asleep." Ruby says in a quiet tone.

"I passed out, I don't really know why, I just suddenly felt sleepy."

"Is that bad Blake?"

"No, it would stand to reason that it was her body's defense from the emotional pain, as the body responds to emotional pain the same way it would if the pain were physical. I don't know if I should ask this, but when you were being tortured, did you fall asleep or pass out often?"

I almost wince at the question, "No, they took pride in keeping us awake during sessions, it made it all the more painful knowing that you couldn't escape the place even in a dream."

"That explains it then, you body is going off of past experience, but this time you were actually able to fall asleep. You weren't actually tired, which is why you woke up so quickly."

"The people who held you are some of the most fucked up people I've ever heard of." Yang comments, after being silent since my arrival.

Weiss looks a little disturbed about her choice of language, but no one debates it.

The silence was almost deafening, but then I hear something tapping.

I look to Blake and she is hearing it as well.

" _That almost sounds like...Morse code!_ "

I start to listen to the pattern and then I realize what was being said. " _I am Ivan._ "

"Ruby, aim Crescent Rose towards the window."

She does so as I walk over and open the window.

"Hey Ivan, get your stalker ass down here so I can kick it." I yell out.

"There's no way, is that you Bats?" The man said as he dropped through the window.

"What other bat faunus have you met?"

"It's kind of hard to get the bat when you smell so much like panther, you and Miss Bow been having some fun?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, I used her shampoo on accident, that's it." Avoiding the actual reason I had that scent.

"Then is that cute little ass of yours still…" He gets out before Ruby has Crescent Rose to his throat.

"Woah hey girlie, I didn't mean anything by it…"

"Really, I recall the last time we met you pinched my ass when I was fucking fifteen aiming down a sniper scope!"

"And somehow you've gotten even prettier since then." He says before Ruby presses Crescent Rose back to his neck.

"Hey Bats, what's up with her?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"I didn't know you swung that way, after all those missions we were on together, and I didn't have a chance." He says in a really sarcastic tone.

"You never know I might swing both ways, but regardless I'd still like to know why you were spying on us." I say, joking with him.

"That's classified information…"

"Let's make a bet then, you seemed to have an addiction to making them last I checked."

"If I have more money in my shirt pocket than your employer is paying you up front, you tell my team and I everything we want to know."

He grins, "You know me too well Bats, I'm being paid a thousand as the first payment."

I reach into the pocket on the front of my shirt and pull out a thousand lien bill.

"Woah, that's a lot to be carrying around, but you said you'd have more than…"

I reach back in and pull out nine more of the same bill, all of Team RWBY's jaws dropped.

"Well played, and a bets a bet." He says as I hand him a chair, "What do you guys want to know?"

"What exactly do you do?" Ruby asks out of simple curiosity.

"I'm basically a gun for hire, but I kill some Grimm here and there."

"Who hired you to spy on us?" Weiss asks.

"A man by the name of Roman Torchwick asked me to keep tabs on a Team RWBY."

"Paid me a thousand up front, said if I did a good job, future employment would be near guaranteed."

"How do you know my girlfriend?"

"We've worked together in the past, the researchers that held her wanted to make sure their lab rats didn't die out in the field, so they hired me to keep track of them."

"You knew the researchers…" Blake starts to ask before he cuts her off.

"Nope, never had direct contact, didn't even visit the facility, they just told me where they were going to be going on missions, paid me electronically. I would have helped them if I could, but I've got people to come home to and dying on them wouldn't be good. Of course Bats knows this, she asked me about all this when a guy hired the two of us for the same Grimm hunting mission about a year and a half ago."

"The one that I completed and let you take the payment for."

"You know my story, I needed the money."

"Mind filling us in on that story?" Yang asks politely.

"He's married and has two kids." I say nonchalantly.

"What?!" Team RWBY all screamed.

"Then why the hell were you hitting on my girlfriend?"

"It's been a running gag between the two of us, the first time it happened, I had tripped on a fallen branch and she ended up on top of me."

"Don't remind me, but he does it to be comical that's why he didn't hit on Yang."

"Why only Yang?"

"He was a thing for big assets, both rear and front."

"Can't say you're wrong." He says, shrugging his shoulders.

"Though I'm sure Christy wouldn't appreciate it, off topic, how have she and the kids been?"

"Better now that I've been getting more work, though the you haven't met lil' Lauren yet."

"I know, but I was a little busy when she was born."

"Oh yeah, you were trying to get a small house in Vale, how'd that go?"

All of Team RWBY looks at me, "It's not that impressive really…"

"Only sixteen…"

"Seventeen." I correct.

"Only seventeen and she owns a house in two…"

"Three." I correct again.

"Three of the kingdoms."

"When were you going to tell me about those?" Ruby asks in an almost wifely manner.

"When I took you all to one of them over summer vacation…"

"Which kingdom don't you have a house in?" Yang asks, interest renewed.

"Vacuo, simply haven't been over to get one."

"And how did you get all of them?" Weiss asks, almost sounding jealous.

"I paid for the one here in Vale, I own my old one in Atlas, and I did a lot of work for a guy in Mistral, he gave me a house as payment."

"Isn't there a law against minors owning property?"

"I inherited the house from my father, which meant I only had to be sixteen. The house I paid for here in Vale was under Ozpin's name. The house in Mistral was more of an under the table deal, gave me the deed straight away. It was beach front property though, so I wasn't going to turn it down."

"Then why were you complaining about getting something expensive for your birthday?"

"I didn't want anything expensive, and the house in Vale only cost me about ten thousand after everything was said and done. I cleared out some Grimm outside the walls, apparently a real estate dealer lived out there and he had a small house near downtown Vale that he needed to sell, really run down and he didn't want to have to fix it up."

"You need to take us by this house at some point."

"Later, but back to Ivan." Turning back to my acquaintance.

"How did you know I am a faunus?" Blake asks, realizing he saw right through the bow.

"I am a wolf faunus, a very enhanced sense of smell runs in the species."

"Every faunus has a special scent they give off, I should have gotten Bats straight away, but she is also giving off a panther scent."

"Which is odd considering that you're not a panther faunus are you Bow?"

"My name is Blake and no, I'm not a panther faunus."

"So you want to tell me the actual reason you got that scent Bats?"

"If you insist…" I say, dropping the cloak on my ears.

"You're a mixed breed?"

"Not exactly, but telling the whole story is boring so take me showing you as the full story."

"If you say so Bats, but as nice as this chat has been, I kind of need to spy on you guys."

"Go ahead then, I don't think we have any more questions." Yang says nonchalantly.

"I do actually, if you're working for someone like Roman, are you having money troubles again?" I ask him, hoping his gambling addiction wasn't the cause.

"Lauren has a kidney disfunction, the treatments are so expensive, so I need a good cash flow."

"Then I have another question in regards to money, are you still living in that same apartment?"

"No…"

"You are, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but with all the medical bills, we can't afford…"

"In exchange for you giving Roman some false information when he asks for reports, I'll give you my house here in Vale."

"You joking with me Bats?"

"If I was, it wouldn't be very funny would it?"

"You can't be serious…" Weiss says, looking slightly concerned about my state of mind.

"Think of it as me giving baby Lauren a late birthday present."

He comes over and crushes me in a hug, "Thank you so much, I owe you big time."

"Hell yeah you do! And don't forget it." I say to him, happy to give his family a proper house.

"So how are you going to…"

"One sec…" I say as I blink to my room, pull my suitcase out from under my bed, grab the keys and blink back.

"Here's the keys and it can stay under Ozpin's name, it will help if Roman figures this whole thing out and comes after you. Address is on the keyring."

"You're too kind Bats, and after everything you've been through…"

"It's the opposite of what those bastards tried to make me into, so I'm happy I have made their plans fail."

He starts to lean out the window before he turns back to me, "You should come by, Izzy loved it the last time you came."

"I'll try later, and be careful, those two need their dad around."

"At your request…" He says as he lets himself fall out the window.

I turn from the window to see all of Team RWBY staring at me, "What?"

"You literally gave a house away…" Weiss says in disbelief.

"So, it's not like I needed it, and he's got two children."

"You have no idea if…" She tries to reason.

"I do, I met his wife, and his first child, he's an honest man even if he doesn't do the most honest things for money."

"Quick question, why did you have ten g's in your shirt pocket?" Yang asks.

"Um… I'm not sure how I should answer this…"

"Spit it out." Ruby says, starting to get impatient.

"It was a contract…"

"And…"

"I had to impersonate a guy's daughter at a ball…"

"And…"

"Try and get her suitor to have sex with me."

Ruby walks over and slaps me, "When were you planning on telling me?"

"I wasn't planning on telling you, it didn't seem important..."

"So you were just going to pretend you didn't have…"

"No..No..No, I didn't actually do anything, I was sixteen for Oum's sake and I don't swing that way. The man wanted proof her daughter's suitor was trying to assault her before the two were married, so he could call off the marriage."

"You got paid to be a glorified hooker…" Ruby says, clearly annoyed.

"I helped a girl get out of a bad situation, so I'd hope you can understand."

"I do, but it still makes me angry you wouldn't tell me."

"Had you asked I would have told you, you don't just pop something like that into a conversation."

"She didn't even do anything Ruby, and this is an area I have room to talk in." Yang says, as Blake blushes heavily.

"Whatever the case, it is nearly time for dinner, so any ideas?" Weiss asks

"Some chinese take out would be great." I say, happy to be off the subject.

"Everyone good with that?" She asks as the group nods, "Since Sierra suggested it, she can have the pleasure of going to get it."

"Fine…" I say as I start to walk out.

"You're going out like that?"

"What? These shorts aren't that revealing are they?"

"They kind of are with you gaining an inch or two, I'm surprised Ruby didn't start drooling." Yang says.

"Hey!"

"Then why didn't anyone say anything?"

Of course, no one responds, "You all enjoy looking at my ass. Good to know." I say going to put on some less revealing shorts.

I peek back into their dorm, "Ruby, you want to come with?"

"Sure, I need some fresh air."

The two of us start to walk out of Beacon's entrance hall, "I still don't understand why you don't blink everywhere."

"I still don't understand why you don't run everywhere." I retort.

The airship ride to Vale didn't take us very long, and before long we had arrived at the restaurant.

"Here's your order Miss."

"Thank you," I say giving the guy a little extra, "the extra ten is tip."

"That's very generous of you, thank you."

I pile all the stuff into my thermal bag I used to use when my family would go on camping trips, it should keep the food warm for later.

We exit the shop after I make sure nothing is spilling, "Why are you so nice?" Ruby asks me.

"I don't know, why are you so cute? I just realized, we're around the block from the storage place where Yang stored your uncle's bike. I guess now is as good a time as any to pick it up."

"How are you going to get it to Beacon?"

"I have an idea, but I'll have to see if it will work."

We show up, I ask the guy at the front desk to take us back to the locker, and then I open the door…

There sat an old motorcycle, what must have been the fastest bike of its day, but nothing compared to today's standards…

Before I get my hands on it of course…

"The drive to Beacon on this would take hours…" Ruby whines.

I put my hand up, "Give me a minute, I need to concentrate."

I clap and begin transmuting various pieces of the bike, upgrading it to modern standards.

"Wow, how can you transmute so many different materials at once?"

"As I said before, my hands are an infinite number of circles, and my matrix can vary depending on how I want it used." I say as I finish the transmutation.

"Has Weiss given you any dust?"

"Yeah, she gave me some dust cored bullets for Crescent Rose."

"Can I see one?"

She hands over one of the rounds, I transmute the dust out from its center.

"What are you about to do?"

"Something interesting I assure you."

I make a small chamber next to the pistons, and mount the crystal in the center.

"That should work…"

"What will that do?"

"I just created dust nitro."

"Really?"

"Yep, the chamber should fill with hot gas causing the crystal to spin and give off energy. Said energy should boost engine output by around 20%, it would be much higher, but I only have that small bit of dust. Given my overall modernization of the bike, with only that small crystal, it should be able to reach speeds upwards of 225 mph."

"Since when do you know motorcycles like that?"

"My dad had one, he never rode it anywhere, so I would tinker with it sometimes. He did his own modifications to it of course, including a dust "reactor" quite similar to the one I just made. You ready to go?"

"Seriously? Without helmets?"

I see a couple old helmets towards the back of the locker, grab them from the ground, and do a quick fixer-upper transmutation of them both.

"Better?" I say handing her one.

"Better, so what do you think Yang's going to say when the bike that is older than her is faster than Bumblebee?"

"Not sure, but there's only one way to find out."

I rev up the engine, the sound reverberating through the storage facility.

"Do you want to know something interesting Ruby?"

"What?"

"There isn't a speed limit on the roads approaching Beacon."

"Why?"

"No one drives there, everyone takes airships, so Ozpin didn't see the point."

"And why did he think you needed to know about it?"

"He told me after I asked him about getting a car."

"Wait, you don't have your license do you?"

"Not one for Vale, but I have my one from Atlas that I hope carries over." I say as I peel out, Ruby instinctively wrapping her arms around my torso.

I wasn't going to break the speed limit, so I had to keep under 35 miles an hour near main street.

"Can we stop by that house you just gave away?" Ruby asks. "I want to see what it looks like."

I nod as we weave through traffic, getting off of main street and making our way downtown.

The house wasn't anything special, just a small town house with three bedrooms, two baths. I couldn't tell you why I bought it, maybe so I'd have a place to stay when I came to Vale, but I don't really know.

"It's this one up here…" I say before stopping after seeing the lights on.

" _I hope Ivan or Christy answer the door, and not Roman._ "

We both dismount, Ruby with one hand on Crescent Rose.

I ring the doorbell, ready for a fight, but then I see a familiar face in the glass.

I smile as Christy opens the door, "How have you been Christy?" I say as she pulls me into a hug.

"Thank you so much, we couldn't have ever thought about moving out of that apartment…"

"You guys have already moved?"

Ivan comes around, "Bats, we barely had the clothes on our backs, moving took us walking over here each carrying a bit."

"You should have come sooner, or called, I told you I could always help if you need it."

"My husband has never been one to accept handouts Sierra, and he didn't want to call you whenever we hit a money low."

"Please tell me you all were eating proper food…" I say, sounding like a parent.

"Food was top priority, and the kids were never hungry…"

"You went without didn't you?"

He hangs his head, "Christy, if you need anything, please call me."

"There's no way you have that much you could…"

I pull the ten thousand that was still in my pocket out, "I'm giving this to you both, consider it a wedding gift I never got to give."

"Sierra, we can't accept this." Christy says, trying to stand her ground.

"I don't need it, nor does having it do anything for me, but you having it can make the difference in the little ones lives…"

"Speaking of which, I can see someones tail from around the corner." I say, running past the two to pick up a little girl.

"Did you think you could hide from me?" I say, tickling her.

"Stop, big sis, that tickles."

I put her down, "What are you doing up so late?"

"I'm four now, so I can stay up more."

"It's good to see you Izzy." I say, rubbing her little wolf ears.

I turn back and see Ivan and Christy smiling at me, but Ruby hadn't entered…

"I'm so sorry I forgot," I say going back to stand by my girlfriend, "Christy, Ivan, this is Ruby Rose, she's my girlfriend. Ruby, this is Ivan and Christy Parker."

"Nice to meet you, it's good to see Sierra isn't a loner anymore." Christy comments.

Ruby laughed a bit, "She can't be anymore really, not now that she teaches at Beacon…"

Christy and Ivan both look at me, "Since when are you a teacher?"

"Since the headmaster decided it would be a good idea."

"And you're dating one of your students?" Christy asks, raising an eyebrow.

I flush at the comment, "I mean, yes, but I…" I stutter out.

"I'm just messing with you, but it is remarkable that both of you are at Beacon so young and Sierra as a teacher no less."

"It wasn't hard for either of us really, and we just want to do what we can to stop the Grimm." Ruby says cheerfully.

"So who's the little one trying to hide behind you?" Ruby asks Christy.

"Isabelle, introduce yourself to Ruby."

Izzy walked over really slowly, "Hi, my names Isabelle, but you can call me Izzy."

"Hi Izzy, my name's Ruby, I'm one of Sierra's friends." Trying to avoid the nature of our relationship with someone so young.

"Well, bye then." Izzy says as she runs off.

"Where's she going?" Ruby asks.

I laugh a bit, "The last time I stopped by we played a game of hide and seek, she said she wanted to play some more next time I came by."

"I guess I'll go find her, it's her bedtime about now anyways." Ivan says, running off to find his daughter.

"Is baby Lauren asleep?"

"Yeah, but you can come see her though."

She leads us back through the hall to the smallest bedroom, a little cradle sits to the side.

I lean over and see the little baby, wolf ears atop her head, quietly sleeping.

"You can hold her if you want," She whispers, "It's the least I could do and I trust you."

I reach into the cradle and put both my arms around the little faunus, pulling her against my chest.

"How do both your daughters have ears if neither of you two do?" I ask, curious.

"It's a complete chance how many traits are expressed when two fauna have a child."

Lauren starts to grab at my fingers, my thumb taking up her entire grip.

"How are you so comfortable holding a baby that small?" Ruby asks.

"I could never tell you, but I've never had a problem with kids."

"You will make a great mother some day." Christy whispers.

I smile while blushing a bit, "Thanks."

I run my fingers through the blonde hair surrounding her ears, "She got your hair."

"She got Ivan's eyes, and I think she might look more like her dad when it's all said and done."

I walk back over, and slowly lower her back into her cradle.

I lean down and kiss her on the forehead, and a small smile appears on her face.

"She likes you, no doubt about it." Christy says when I walk back out.

"Ruby and I should probably be going, we were going to get take-out for the rest of the team when Ruby asked if she could see the place, I didn't realize how quickly you could move."

"Wait… I thought you said you were a teacher?"

"I'm both, it's complicated, but it works."

"Ok, you two should come back again soon, I know Izzy will be disappointed that you didn't get to play hide and seek this time."

"I would be happy to come back anytime, and I'm sure Sierra feels the same."

I nod to Christy, "I'm serious about you calling me, anything you need please just ask."

"We'll try to solve our problems by ourselves first, but we won't let it get as bad as last time before we call."

"Thank you, and tell Ivan I said bye."

Ruby and I walk out and get back on my bike, "So what do you think?" I ask Ruby.

"About?"

"Ivan and his family."

"I think you really helped them by giving them a house that they can call their own, and that I'd like to come back soon."

"Good, we'll have to find a good time to bring the rest of the team, but I don't know if Izzy could find Blake if we played hide and seek."

We both laugh a little at that, and Ruby wraps her arms around my waist as we start off towards the city limits.

We reached the city limits in less than five minutes, and outside of that was the long road leading to Beacon.

"You ready for this?" I say, really wanting to see what my new bike could do.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She says, sounding almost worried.

"Ruby, if you don't want me to do it that's fine, but I don't see how it would be any different from you using your semblance."

"I can control my body a lot easier than you can control this bike."

"Fine then, let's race!"

"My semblance versus your bike?" She asks.

I nod and she dismounts, to brace one hand against the ground.

"On your mark…" I say.

"Get set…" She continues.

"GO!" We both say, speeding away from each other.

I notice she's running over the hills, " _She's taking the straight shot and thinks I can't follow, well, she's in for a surprise._ "

I turn off, speeding over the hills in the pursuit of my girlfriend.

" _She got a bit of an advantage by getting off before me, but I think my top speed is higher than hers, so I think I can close the gap."_

I smile as I could see the gap between the two of us getting smaller and smaller.

The two of us are side by side and I can tell she is giving this her all, "How you doing?" I ask as we speed across the landscape side by side.

"Can't talk, focusing...running." She pants out.

"Well, then you really won't like this…" I say as I lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek.

I see her instantly come to a stop, leaving me almost positive I broke my girlfriend.

"YOU BITCH!" I hear her scream before a red blur is beside me in nearly an instant.

She turns the key in the ignition off bringing me to a stop, and she stands in front of my bike looking rather angry.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you would shut down like that."

"No, not about that, about the fact you didn't let me return it." She says before grabbing the back of my head and forcing me into a kiss.

"Why didn't you just say so?" I say as I hang the bag with the chinese in it on the back of my bike and tackle her to the ground in another kiss.

We wrestle in the cold grass for a bit, each trying to gain the upper hand, until Ruby eventually got me pinned.

"You look so sexy when you're flustered like this." She says holding my hands above my head.

"That's not a word you've used to describe me before."

"There hasn't been a time before now where I was guaranteed my sister wouldn't hear me."

She kisses me on the lips again, running her tongue over my lips as she does so, and I know she wants more.

But I'm not going down without a fight, and when I open my lips slightly, I start to fight with her tongue for dominance.

Several minutes go by of us going back and forth trying to win, it ends with neither of us backing down, but being forced to break the kiss to breathe.

"We should get back…" I say, still slightly out of breath.

"I'm glad you brought that thermal bag with us… Wait, did you plan this to be a date from the beginning?"

"Maybe…"

She hugs me, "Thanks, meeting some new people, racing you, kissing you, it was perfect."

"I do love it when a plan comes together, so do you want to ride with me or are you fine with running?"

"I'm too tired to run, so I guess I'm riding." She says climbing on behind me.

The remaining ride to Beacon took about ten minutes, and we reached the front entrance only to find it closed.

"I guess Ironwood had Ozpin make curfew earlier, or maybe it's just because he saw me leave."

"If so, that guy is such an asshole."

"Well, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way…"

"Which is?"

"Jumping over…"

"You don't mean on the bike do you?"

I give her a devilish grin, "Just hold on, it will be over before you know it."

I give myself plenty of run-up and make a decent size ramp using my aura.

" _Three...two...one…_ " I count myself down.

With a quick rev of the engine, we were soaring over Beacon's exterior wall, and landed rather well in one of Beacon's many courtyards.

"That was so cool!" Ruby exclaims after pulling her helmet off.

"Here," I say as I transmute a quick tarp, "Put both helmets on the seat and I'll cover it with this tarp until I can take it to the staff garage tomorrow."

She grabs the take out and we quickly hurry to the RWBY dorm."

"We're back…" I start only to be interrupted by Weiss.

"What on Remnant took you so long?!"

"I stopped to pick up the motorcycle Yang gave me, and we made a stop on the way that took longer than I thought. I took my thermal bag with me just in case, so the food is still perfectly warm."

"I don't care, I'm hungry." Yang says, grabbing her food.

Everyone else grabs their food and starts to eat.

"After everything that has happened today, I think I'm going to turn in." I say standing to leave after everyone had finished eating.

"I'll be right over." Ruby says, grabbing her pyjamas.

"Ruby, you should just move your pj's over to Sierra's if you two are going to be sleeping together." Yang says, coming out of the bathroom in her pyjamas.

"How did you make that sentence sound so dirty near the end?" I ask her.

"Could have made it a whole lot dirtier sunshine."

I laugh a bit at her reply, and walk out the door before any of them could follow.

Laying down on my bed, I stretch my wings out behind me, sighing at the feeling.

"Does it feel really good when you unfold your wings?" Ruby asks as she walks in.

"It would be like you holding your arm behind your back all day and then giving it a massage."

"Do you ever wish you weren't the way you are?" She says crawling next to me.

"I used to all the time, but now I don't ever think like that…" I say as she gives me a look that says continue, "Without everything that happened, I might not have ever met you."

She leans over and kisses me, "You're too sweet."

"And you're too cute, I think we can find a balance." I say smiling.

I get up quickly and take off my arm, realizing that I had been wearing it to bed over the last couple weeks.

"Was my arm cold to sleep with?"

"A bit, but you were warm enough to keep me warm."

I go and lay down again, letting Ruby lay on top of one of my wings.

She starts rubbing it and I start giggling, she gives me an odd look, "What? It tickles."

"Ok then, how about this?" She says running her fingers down my sides.

"Ruby...stop." I say practically in tears from laughing.

" So "The girl with the strength of ten hunters" is ticklish, and I'll agree to stop if you agree to do some therapy sessions with me." She stops, awaiting my reply.

"For what?"

"Your scars, Blake says it would be a good idea for us to continue to work through them."

"I don't know if…"

"How about if you agree, every bad memory you work through with me is worth a make-out session."

"I hope you realize just how many make out sessions you have offered me."

"I'm well aware, but I know you'll feel better after you sort through all that."

"But going through them isn't going to be fun…"

"Well, then my cuteness is going to have to make up for your lack of fun."

"I think I can agree to your terms, I'm willing to go through them if you're with me."

"I'm going to be with you every step of the way."

"Good, but now I need to get you back for tickling me…" I say as I roll myself on top of her, tickling her while she's pinned.

"Cut it out…" She giggles out.

"Not until somebody apol…" I get out before she locks me in a kiss.

She rolls on top of me, whilst breaking the kiss, "You shouldn't let your guard down, especially with the tournament coming up."

"About that… I'm thinking about not entering."

"Why?"

"I will show you if you promise me you won't tell anyone about what I'm doing."

She nods her head and I lead her over to my worktable, I flip on the lamp illuminating some notes I had been working on.

"I got Ozpin to get me Weiss' mother's medical records, given some of the information, I've been able to narrow down the type of dust that's inducing her coma."

"If I can figure out which one is causing the problem, then I should be able to create a counter dust using alchemy."

"Why can't you just transmute the dust directly?"

"It would leave holes where the dust is currently embedded, considering it's her brain that's not something we can afford."

"You're considering dropping out of the tournament so you can get Weiss' mom back to her?"

"Yes, and don't think I've forgotten about you or Yang's either."

"Wait, you've been looking for Yang's mom?"

I open up my laptop, I tab over to my window for Yang, and turn the laptop towards her.

"Where did you find all this?" She says gaping at the amount of information I had managed to gather.

"AHH records, they don't have the best security, and it doesn't help that Ozpin gave me an admin login code."

"Almost all of it is before she left Beacon, doesn't even have a name or a picture, it just says that a woman was on a team with your mom and dad."

"They removed her name from the records?"

"It sure looks that way, and I don't want to risk seeing if there is an older version, in case someone is watching the files. Yang's mom was knee-deep in something, she also had the ability to know Yang would receive a message encoded into her aura, something no person has been able to do for decades."

"How do you do it?"

"I copy my great-grandfather's semblance, he recorded his technique in great detail, and my father assumed I could do it since all I need to copy a semblance is to know how it works. Watching it done is the easiest way, but a detailed explanation works just as well."

"You also said something about my mom…"

I pull out my alchemy notebook, and turn to some of my most recent pages.

"I've been doing more digging into human transmutation, I feel like I'm getting closer, but nothing definitive yet."

"My hope was that I could have Weiss and Yang's moms back before they were going to participate in the tournament, and have your mom back to you before next school year. But, even with me researching with all my spare time, there's no chance of me getting all three back on time, especially if I go home in the next couple weeks."

"Then work through them one at a time, start with Weiss, then help Yang, and save mine for last."

"The only thing is, I don't know whether any of this is going to turn out okay in the end. I might not be able to help Weiss' mom or find Yang's mom. There's so many variables that I just can't control here."

"I think you need to relax and take it slower, going super fast isn't going to help you if you kill yourself in the process." She says, putting her arms around my neck.

"You're right, I'll slow the plans down a bit, but I'm not going to stop until I finish getting all of them back."

"Fine, but for tonight you are getting a full eight hours of sleep."

"Only if you catch me." I say, jumping up from the desk.

I jump over my bed as Ruby follows behind me, she grabs my leg and pulls me back to the bed.

"I caught you."

"I wasn't trying that hard…"

"Do you want to go through one of your scars tonight?"

"No, maybe one first thing in morning though." I say, curling into her embrace.

"I want to know something before you go to sleep…" Ruby says.

I look up at her, "How many people have you had to kill?"

I freeze, my eyes had to be showing the terror of her asking such a question, "Why would you…"

"I want to know."

"I don't think I ever kept count, I just thought about keeping my siblings safe."

"And if someone asked you to kill someone now for whatever reason, would you do it?"

"No, with an exception… The person who killed my father will suffer the full extent of my anger and wrath, if he dies in the process, so be it."

"I want you to consider something, what if they are like Ivan? Doing what they have to in order for their family to have something to eat."

"Where is this coming from?"

"What you said about Ivan, he's an honest man even if he doesn't do the most honest things for money, it could very easily be someone just like him."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I don't think I will hold anything back at that point."

"As long as you'll at least think about it that is all I want."

I press my head up against her once again, and close my eyes, "Ruby, can you sing to me?"

"What makes you think I can sing?"

"I asked Weiss about things you liked to do, she said she'd heard you singing and I didn't think I'd ever heard you."

She sighs, "I sing when I think about my mom…"

My eyes snap open, "I'm so sorry for bringing it up then."

"No, it's alright, you didn't know."

"What do you sing?" I ask, not expecting what came next.

She started to sing, "I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute

couldn't bear another day without you in it

all of the joy that I had known for my life

was stripped away from me the minute that you died

To have you in my life was all I ever wanted

but now without you I'm a soul forever haunted

Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted

no way in hell that I can ever comprehend this

I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone

I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong

how could you leave me when you swore that you would stay

now i'm trapped inside a nightmare every single fucking day

It's like a movie but there's not a happy ending

Every scene fades black and there's no pretending

This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well

There's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell

I know you didn't plan this

You tried to do what's right

but in the middle of this madness

I'm the one you left to win this fight

Red like roses

fills my head with dreams and finds me

always closer

to the emptiness and sadness

that has come to take the place of you."

Tears were rolling down her face near the end, "Ruby…" I say looking into her eyes.

"I miss her so much!" She screams into my shoulder, as she burst into tears.

"Why did she have to die? What did she do to deserve that?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to bring her back to you, no matter what it takes."

I rub circles into her back, calming her down, "Are you okay now?"

"Yes, but only because you're here with me." She says, still slightly sniffling.

"Here, let me cheer you up a bit more." I say, pulling my shirt over my head.

"What are you…" She asks.

I reach back and unclip my bra, letting it fall in front of me, "You can touch them if you want."

She blushes, "What makes you think I would want to?"

"Ruby, I've see you staring at my chest, and you're my girlfriend."

"But you said you weren't going to…"

"I'm not breaking my word to Yang, I said I would do no touching, and in this case I am not."

Ruby nervously reaches forward, her hand ghosting over my chest, "Ruby, if you don't want to then…" I start before she starts groping me.

"Then what?" She says, knowing I couldn't respond without moaning.

She continues going over my chest, squeezing and pulling wherever she wanted.

"Do you feel better?" I ask after a couple minutes.

"Much, but you want to stop?"

"I am a bit tired."

"Okay, but I would like to do this again, if it's alright with you."

"I'm perfectly fine letting you feel me up whenever you want to, as long as it gets you as much pleasure as it gives me." I say, as I put my bra back on.

"Before we go to bed, could you do me?"

"Ruby, I meant what I…"

"If you don't do it, I'm breaking up with you."

"Ruby…" I start, only to realize I couldn't win this one, "As long as you're fine with only one hand..."

She pulls off her shirt, showing me the plain black bra she wore underneath, "You can do the honors."

I reach behind her and unclip it, slowly pulling it off of her, "You're so beautiful." I say as it falls away.

She blushes, "Just get on…" She gets out before I start circling her nipple with my fingers.

I had never thought about the fact that stuff like this would be harder with only one arm, but it turns out that it can be difficult to feel a girl up missing an arm.

But Ruby was clearly enjoying my methods, almost leaning into my hand.

"You might want a pillow for this next part." I say seductively after a couple minutes.

She grabs one, and I start to run my tongue over her nipple.

She moans into the pillow, I bite down lightly, and she screams only for only a second before it turns into a low moan.

I stop, "Did that hurt?"

"Not...even...one...bit."

"Sierra...when can we actually…"

"Whenever we are both ready for it, and it feels right."

"Like right now?"

"Ruby...neither of us are ready for that and you know it. Don't get me wrong, I would love to, but it's too early for that."

"I guess you're right, we've only been dating for a month now."

"For now, this can work, can't it?"

"I think doing this once every couple weeks would keep me satisfied until we're both ready."

"You might want to put this back on, in case Yang comes to wake you tomorrow." I say handing her discarded bra back to her.

"Good idea, she would kill both of us if she saw me undressed in bed." She says, clipping it back into place.

"You want to sleep in our bras to mess with her if she does come?"

"Oh yeah, really perverted payback." She says, putting her head on my chest.

"Your boobs make good pillows." She comments.

"I'm sure yours are just as good, but I haven't been on bottom before."

"Well, you're still not going to be, because this is too comfortable."

I kiss her on the forehead, "Good night, I love you."

"Ditto." She says, giggling.


	13. Scars of the Past

"SIERRA!" Yang screams as she runs after me.

"It wasn't my idea!" I say, pulling a shirt over my head as I'm running.

So our idea of staying partially undressed in case Yang came in worked perfectly, though it worked a little too well in my opinion.

"YOU'RE DEAD IF I CATCH YOU!" She screams.

Usually, Ruby would be my saving grace in a situation like this, but she had somehow stayed asleep while her sister attempted to cave my skull in.

"It's not what you think!" I yell at her.

I go to turn a corner, only to lose my footing and slide into the wall.

Yang pins me against the wall, "What were you and my sister doing?"

"Nothing too bad…" I say, not wanting to lie or tell the truth.

"I swear if you did anything sexual…"

"Does feeling her up one handed count as sexual?"

She pulls her arm back, I close my eyes in preparation for the hit, but it doesn't come.

I open my eyes to see Velvet holding Yang's arm back, "Hey Velvet…" I say, still pinned with Yang's other hand.

"What did you do to incur the wrath of one of Beacon's finest?" She says, her accent coming through slightly.

"I am in a relationship with her sister, and as such, she wants to protect her."

"Ah, makes sense, but then I should wonder if saving you was the right thing to do."

"You have my thanks regardless, and Yang, she asked me to do it okay?"

"I'll ask her to be sure, but if she says otherwise, you're toast."

She strides away, still visibly angry, "Now that everything things settled down, how have you been since our last class Velvet?"

"Better since CDRL have been leaving me alone, I want to thank you again for being one of the first to stand up for me." She says bowing slightly.

"And again I'll say, it's not a problem, faunus have to have each others backs right?"

"I couldn't agree more, so do you want to go grab something to eat?"

I give her a strange look, "As friends of course, we're both in relationships…" She stops at that last part and I realize that she didn't mean to let that slip, "I'm guessing that's not public knowledge yet?"

She nods, clearly petrified, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, but if you don't mind me asking, who's the lucky lady?"

She sighs in relief, "It's Coco."

I give her a pat on the back, "Well done Miss Scarlatina, any reason you two aren't official yet?"

"Some people don't like the idea of human faunus relationships…"

"The opinions of some bigots shouldn't stop you from telling people about your relationship, Ruby and I would be dating whether I keep hiding my features or if I revealed my wings. To be honest, if I wouldn't be hunted down by people far and wide for my wings to be put in a trophy case, I would have my wings out all the time."

"You aren't afraid of what people would say?"

"Not one bit, in fact, I should show you something. Are your teammates out of your dorm?"

"I think Fox might be around, but if you're showing me something that shouldn't be an issue."

I wince, "You're right unfortunately, let's go then."

We walk the short distance to Team CRFY's dorm, and we open it up to see Fox laying back on his bed.

"Hi Fox." I say, almost starting to wave before I think about it.

"Hello Miss Grey."

"Fox, I thought I told all my students to call me Sierra, Miss Grey has never suited me."

"You did, but I was taught as a child to always call someone you respect Mr., Mrs., or Miss."

"I thank you for giving me enough respect for that, but it is simply my preference."

"As you wish, may I ask what has brought you by?"

"I wanted to talk to Velvet about something in private, but you're here so…"

"I was actually thinking about going to get something to eat, so if you need to talk then so be it." He says, standing.

"Do you need help getting there Fox?" Velvet asks.

"Had you asked me first semester I would have said yes, but thanks to Sierra's help, I should be able to find my own way."

"You use aura sense like that?" I ask, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, I know general directions, so I just sense where a lot of auras are in that direction. Gets me most places I need to go, and if I can't get all the way there, I can just ask someone."

"I don't think I've ever used it like that, I've always used it to find a specific person."

"Either way, I'll hear you both later I guess." He says, walking out the door.

"Did he just…"

"Make a joke about his own blindness? Yeah, he does it more often than you'd think. That was something else I've been meaning to thank you for, our team really appreciates being your second class."

"You seemed like the natural choice, a very well qualified second year team."

"Many of the professors thought you would pick JNPR, since RWBY was your first choice."

"I want to see Jaune take some initiative and come to ask me, instead of me choosing his team."

"I can't believe he didn't after how well Team RWBY has been performing in Miss Goodwitch's class."

"That has been their own determination to get better, their spars with me have actually been putting up a challenge when it's the four of them against me. Regardless, now that we're in private, I can show you." I say as I drop the cloak on my ears.

"How…"

"I've had them for about a month now, it's a complicated story, but I am part panther faunus now."

"You are so dead if a faunus hater finds out that you've got two traits from two different animals."

"I know I'm the only bat faunus that is like this, so I'm definitely a target now if I wasn't before."

"I understand you keeping this secret, and I would have loved to have the same opportunity."

"I'm sorry you didn't, but hiding them now wouldn't do much good."

"I can deal with bullying, you would be dealing with assassination attempts, so I understand."

"Thank you for understanding, are you guys free this afternoon for another class?"

"I think Coco said something about the two of us going out later…"

"Say no more, I understand, as I am also dating a team leader. I have to assume the rest of your team knows?"

She blushes, "My question now is, how did they find out?"

"They might have walked in on our first kiss…"

I laugh a bit, "I haven't been through that one, but it sounds embarrassing. Tell Coco to come see me when you guys all have time for another session k?"

"I'll be sure to tell her."

I decide to head back to my room, hoping to find Ruby still in bed so I could join her, but get disappointed when I see she has already left for class.

I curl up in my recliner, hoping to get some more research done on Weiss' mom's condition, but I just couldn't force myself to concentrate like that.

" _What can I do? Ruby isn't here so I guess I could work on her birthday present…_ "

I open up my closet, push back all the clothes, and pull out the cloth covered canvas sitting against the wall.

I set up the easel just around the corner from the door, so I could cover it up if Ruby stopped by after class.

It had only taken me a couple hours to get the general layout done, the four of them sitting on a picnic blanket in the sunshine, the colors will be the hard part and I don't have much time without Ruby around to actually get the painting done.

I had my laptop open with a picture of Summer, Ruby, Yang, and Taiyang in each corner of the screen, trying to get the colors and precise details down to a science.

I started with each of their faces, trying to get the eyes and mouth just right in proportion to the rest of the head.

Next came the hair, trying to get the red streaks that Ruby has in her hair to match with her mother's was challenging, but I managed to get it to look how I wanted it to.

I started to do the scenery before there was a knock at the door, "One sec!" I yell, putting the paint brush on my ear, throwing the cloth back over the painting, and wiping the extra paint on my shirt(Don't worry, I have a old shirt I wear when I paint, so I can get paint on it.)

I open the door to find Yang, looking significantly calmer than I had last seen her.

"What brings you by?" I ask, slightly curious.

"Ruby has asked that I apologize for my behavior earlier."

"I accept your apology on the condition that in future you will take into consideration that Ruby isn't a kid anymore and can make her own decisions. Your response would have been fine if I had forced her into something, but I didn't and never plan to."

"I know, but she's my little sister and she'll always be my little sis no matter how old she gets. Any reason you're covered in paint?" She asks, noting my current shaggy get-up.

"You promise not to spoil it for your little sis?" I ask, and she nods.

I open up the door all the way, and close the door behind her after she walks in.

I uncover the painting and her jaw drops, "This looks incredible…"

"It's not done yet, but I am pretty close minus a couple bits of detailing that I have left."

"I hope you realize just how happy this is going to make her."

"I know, I want to make her just as happy as she makes me everyday."

Yang starts dry heaving, just like she did on my birthday.

"You realize it's lines like those that make the ladies swoon." I say.

She stops and instantly fumes, "You did not just…"

"I did, but all I'm suggesting is a bit more cuteness for your own girlfriend, it isn't like she asked me to tell you that or anything."

"Blake really asked you to tell me that?"

"Never directly, but she always says something about comments like that when I give them to Ruby, I think she's jealous."

"I'll give it a go, but I don't want to hear about you making my little sis swoon." She says, leaving the room after she makes sure she fully closed the door.

I keep working for the next half hour, constantly peeking over my shoulder to make sure Ruby hadn't been getting spy lessons from Blake.

I cover the painting back over with its cloth, being careful not to smudge the fresh paint with the cover.

I hide it back in its cave at the back of my closet, and put all the clothes back in front of it to keep it hidden.

" _What next?_ "

"You could help me out."

" _Shade? Where have you been over the past month?"_

"Here, waiting for a certain someone to help me out…"

" _You realize I can't help you if I've forgotten and you don't ask right?_ "

"You forgot?!" He screams at me.

" _Sorry, it's not like I haven't been busy since the last time we talked, I've had a lot on my plate. Finishing Team RWBY's basic training, helping Ruby with some more advanced alchemy, and you know, being in a relationship!_ "

"Well I'm sorry I'm not at a vacation resort with loads of shit to do, it gets kind of boring being in an infinite space of nothing everyday."

" _When do you want to try and unlock your aura?, you're going to have to make an appointment because of how much I have on my schedule."_

"You can't be serious…"

" _When have I lied to you? I can get it done while I'm Atlas without too much of a problem."_

"But isn't Ruby coming with you?"

" _She is, but I can explain to her what I will be doing, she might even be able to help now that she knows some more advanced alchemy."_

"Are you sure about that?"

" _Not in the slightest, the possibility exists and could happen, so if she can, I would be more than happy to let her help if you would allow me."_

"That's fine with me as long as she won't get in the way."

" _You're prepared for the possibility that what awaits you isn't pleasant?"_

"Of course, after what happened with James, I'm more than ready for anything that could be thrown at me."

I sigh,  _"If you think you're ready, then we'll do it on the second day we're in Atlas."_

"Thank you, but if you forget again…"

" _Don't worry about that, I'll make sure to write it down to make sure I don't forget."_

A knock sounds at the door, " _We can figure the rest out later."_

I answer the door and it's my girlfriend, "Welcome home." I tell her.

"It's great to be back." She says, giggling, "What's with your clothes?"

"I have been painting if you couldn't guess."

"Can I see it?"

"Yes, but when it's done because I'm not going to show it to you before that."

"I want to see it now!" She whines.

"Then I guess I won't be showing you the plate of cookies that I was going to give you…"

She gasps, "You wouldn't!"

"You know full well I will Ruby, I have done it before and I will do it again."

"But you promised you wouldn't use cookies anymore, they are my sustenance!"

"Then you don't get to see the painting early that's the trade-off."

"Fine…, but I want one of those cookies now."

I laugh a bit and walk over to the to the cabinet, and I pull out a small plate of cookies, "Are these from the bakery downtown?" She asks.

"Yep, just for you and me." I say, grabbing one and holding just in front of her mouth.

She bites for it, but I pull it back before she can get it and watch as she pouts.

I put the cookie into my mouth, and hold it out in front of me, "I'm not going to pull away this time." I say, holding the cookie between my teeth.

She bites down on the cookie, breaking it up and allowing the two of us to kiss.

"So, have you decided whether I'm coming with you to Atlas?" She asks, her mouth still full of cookie.

"I'm taking you, but I want you to be as respectful as possible."

"You really think I would disrespect your parent's graves?"

"No, but this is the first time I will have taken someone outside of our family to my house."

"Didn't your house burn down? I thought we would just be visiting their graves."

"Ozpin had it rebuilt, I don't know why he did it, but I have been back several times since and it looks almost exactly the same as it did when I was growing up. It has a normal living room now, but other than that, it's identical."

"I guess I should take you to Patch at some point, I'm sure my dad would love to meet you."

I wince, "I'm not so sure, given how Yang reacted."

"My dad has always said Yang was more like her mother then him, she looks like my dad, but has her mom's attitude."

"Did you ever meet her?"

"No, she left just after Yang was born, even our dad hasn't heard from her since then."

"In the message she left for Yang, she said that she had to leave in order to stop some event from happening, but I don't have any idea what it could be."

"Could it have something to do with Torchwick, the White Fang?"

"You would think that, though I can tell you there is something deeper here, and that it could be catastrophic if it isn't stopped."

"We can figure it out and stop it, so when are we heading to Atlas?"

"I usually go on my birthday, but since I missed that deadline, we can go whenever you've got a low in your classes."

"How about we leave tonight then? I don't have anything over the next couple of days."

"Please make sure it's okay with Ozpin and the rest of the team, so you don't just walk out on them."

"I'll make sure, but I think it is about time we work through one of your scars."

I rubbed my neck, "I thought you had forgotten about that…"

"We can start with any of them, whichever one is the least painful."

"All of them are painful, so I guess if you wanted to just pick one…"

"Ok then, shirt off."

I pull off the paint covered shirt and throw it into my clothes hamper.

I lay down on my stomach, leaving my back exposed for my girlfriend once again.

"How about this one?" Running her finger along the scar in between my wings.

"That would be one of the easiest to explain…"

***Flashback start***

"You ten are going to be the first of many that will be made into human weapons for our employer." The researcher explained.

I mumble a bit, causing the researcher to come over, "What did you…" He starts.

I slam my forehead into his teeth, "I said you can fucking try it."

"You little brat!" He says, spitting blood from his lip onto my face, "That deserves some punishment!"

He goes to kick me in the stomach, but I harden my aura and I hear the sound of his toes slamming against the surface.

"This one's had training, I need an aura suppression cuff stat!"

"You're not going to be so tough without that little shield of yours are you?"

"Nobody said that, you just assume I'm weak if I don't have it, which is the biggest mistake you can make." I say as they put the cuff on my normal arm.

All the other kids were watch my display in shock, my sister's eyes telling me to keep pushing the boundaries, while my brother is simply listening.

"Ok then, let's see what you've got without it, I've never been bad in a fight." He says, taking a typical boxing stance.

"I thought nerds didn't fight…"

"Oh you little…"

I use the time as he retorts to push forward, giving him a solid hit to the abdomen with my automail.

He goes to swing, but I drop beneath his punch, sending a kick over my head to crack at his arm.

" _He's taller than me, which means getting height on him is going to be difficult...but not impossible._ "

We exchange blows for what felt like hours, I let him land a couple hits so he would think he had me on the back petal.

He starts to back me towards a wall, "Getting into a corner isn't good in a fight you know." He taunts.

I smirk as I clap, transmute a small stair from the wall behind me for me to jump up off of, and front flip above him.

I use my legs to get a grip on his neck, and use my bodyweight to swing around, breaking his clavicle.

I slam him to the floor as the guards rush back into the room to see one of their researchers on the floor, spitting up blood.

"That wound shouldn't kill him if he gets medical attention within the next two hours, but I wouldn't gamble with anything over an hour and a half just to be safe."

The guards are just staring at me, an eleven year old girl had just taken down a fully grown man in hand to hand combat in less than the five minutes they'd been out of the room.

"Are you going to keep staring at me or are you going to get this guy some help?"

They run over and two of the men pick him up, trying to support him as much as possible.

The other guard binds my hands after they saw my little alchemy display, "You want me to kick your ass with both hands tied behind my back?" I gloat at him. "My younger sister or my brother could do it if I'm not your type."

"The head of staff would like to have a word with you." He says, starting to drag me off.

" _I'll be back soon._ " I mouth to my sister and the others kids, my brother unable to see my words.

The guard leads me through the maze of hallways that I would call home for the next three years.

We passed several labs, almost all of them had something that would haunt me for months, and the ones that didn't had things that would haunt me for years.

"What is this place?"

"Research Facility #4, ask any questions you want, it's not like you're getting out of here."

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of Inner Atlas."

"Who pays for you guys to run this joint?"

"Even I don't know that one kid."

"Can you let me go?" I ask optimistically.

He laughs a bit, "I can't, I got mouths to feed, and this is some of the only work a felon can get."

"You're a felon?"

"I took part in an armed robbery, not of my own free will, but no one would believe me when I said I was blackmailed."

"I'm sorry to hear that, now I'm going to have to willingly take part in mass murder, so I'll understand your struggle after this is over."

"I doubt this is going to end unless this entire place is destroyed." He says, not knowing the truth behind his words.

"Here we are…" He says as we reach a large set of double doors.

He pushed them open, "Sir, I have the girl that took down Greer here for you."

"Thank you, you may leave us." The man says, facing away from us.

The guard walks out, leaving me facing a large, black leather chair.

"What is your name girl?"

"I'd assume you people would know given you kidnapped me and burned my house down." I snap.

"We were given you and your siblings, the others were our collection, so I have no information regarding you three."

"Given?"

"An investor gave you to us, said we should use you three because of your prior training and your faunus attributes. It's clear you have skill, you managed to take down a man nearly twice your size without your aura, and your wings will let you get into places most couldn't reach."

"What does that mean for the three of us?"

"It means…" He says stand from his chair and walking behind me.

"You'll get the jobs that require you to handle a little more pain and precision…" He whispers into my ear as he slides a knife right along my spine.

"How does that feel?" He asks after I don't react.

"Like a refreshing change of pace."

"A confident one are we?"

"Nah, I just know I've got people I have to protect, nothing you do to me matters."

"Your brother and sister are the ones I need to hurt to get to you then?"

"If you can make either of those two cry in pain, I'll need to have some words with them about discipline."

"You are very disciplined, you haven't even flinched as I've carved a line into your upper back."

"I've been through worse than that almost everyday of my life."

"Have a difficult childhood?"

I laugh a bit, "Difficult is a bit of an understatement."

"Well, I think that's about all I need from you right now, but we'll be speaking periodically and I'll have you under one of my personal research attendants."

"Seems like some special treatment for someone who's name you don't know."

"I'm sure you'll tell me at some point, given I'll probably be the nicest person you'll meet here."

"So the person that stabs me in the back will be the nicest? Good to know."

"Have fun, since your back is already cut open, you can be the first to get your tracker installed."

"Sounds great." I say in a monotone voice.

"Glad that you think so, I'll be seeing you soon."

***Flashback End***

Ruby starts giving me a curious look, "What?"

"You're not crying?"

"Yeah? Is that a surprise?"

"Yes, I mean, is that not a painful memory?"

"Of course, but there are so many that are so much worse, it doesn't even come close to some of the others."

"Do you still have your tracker…"

"No, I cut it out myself after the White Fang "accepted" me into their ranks."

"I know this is going to be a sensitive topic, but what is your worst scar memory?"

"It would have to be the scar under my automail, the one I got the night I tried to bring my mom back."

"Any reason it's so painful?"

"I failed, I was so sure everything was right, but I failed anyway."

"Have you figured it out?"

"Yeah, I had the mass of her body, but I didn't have anything to offer in exchange for her soul. If I was to try again, I would need a philosopher's stone in exchange for her soul."

"What makes the stone so valuable in alchemy?"

"It's supposed to be the perfect material, the only matter with its specific density."

"That's it?"

"As far as I know there is no way to make the stone, increasing the value."

"I guess I'm just curious, it just seems weird."

"I haven't thought about the why behind it, all I know is that it can allow the user to bypass the law of equivalent exchange."

"Enough alchemy stuff, I'm pretty sure I owe you a make out session."

"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't forget something like that…" I say as I move over to her.

We both lean into it, I let her sit us down on the bed, our lips still locked together.

I pull away, "You're the best…"

"You act like I get nothing out of this, you're a really good kisser."

"I hope to get better…"

"Well that takes practice…" She says draping her arms over my shoulders.

We go at it again, I playfully nip her bottom lip a couple times with my teeth.

"You're being a tease…"

"If you want me to get straight to the point…" I say as I shove my tongue in her mouth.

She tries to push back, but I decide I want to win this one.

I let her realize she'd been beaten, and she stops pushing back.

I explore where I want, trying to get a feel for where she liked me to go.

I pull away again, "How long have you wanted to do that?" She asked.

"Since last night, I really wanted to win."

"If letting you win means some more kisses like that then I'm not complaining."

"Did I go too far?"

"Not as long as I can do the same to you if I win."

"Is it alright if we don't do that every time? Not that I'm complaining, but I just like when we kiss without the tongue."

"Says the girl who just played tonsil hockey with me."

"Hey! All you have to do is say you don't like it…"

"I never said I didn't like it, but you're just afraid of me getting to do the same."

"I...No, you're right." I say, hanging my head, "I don't like feeling...weaker. Being held for so long makes you feel like you're not in control, which is why I have never had a problem wanting to take charge."

"You don't like letting someone else take control because you're afraid they'll never give it back?"

I nod, "Let me show you it isn't so bad…"

We kiss again, but this time, Ruby is clearly being softer, not pushing as hard.

Then I feel her start to run her tongue over my lips, and I instinctively pull back.

"You didn't have a problem with me doing that on our date, what's wrong?"

"I...don't know, it doesn't feel right."

"One more time, for me?"

I sigh, "If you really want me to…"

We try one more time and she runs over my lips once more, I start to pull away, but she grabs the back of my head.

I relax, letting her do what she wanted, it felt incredible to give her control, if only for a minute.

I feel her slide her hand along my thigh and I moan ever so lightly into the kiss.

"Can we now?" She says, almost whining.

"Ruby, no, as much as I would love to pin your hands above your head and mess around, you're only fifteen."

She blushes, "I'm about to be sixteen and you only just turned seventeen."

"I am more than willing to wait a bit okay, so please be patient."

"I know, but it just seems like we're ready for another step."

"I mean, you're coming with me to meet my parents…"

"That's morbid."

"I know, but that is really all I have left."

"You don't have any other relatives?"

"I mean, unless you count Oz, then no."

"What happened to your grandparents?"

"I honestly can't remember either of my parents mentioning anything about their own parents."

"You never asked?"

"I don't think I did, by the time I was old enough for questions like that to come up, my mom had already died. I never thought about asking my dad about family stuff after our own had suffered so badly."

"Were they orphans?"

"I don't think so, but I can't remember either of them going away to see their parents and their parents definitely didn't come to see them at our house."

"Ozpin might know, you and I can both go see him before we leave tonight."

"That's if we leave tonight, I'm not taking you if Weiss needs you here."

"I'm positive she'll be fine, but let's go ask her just to be sure."

"I'm going to put a shirt on, you can go on ahead."

I go grab a shirt from my closet and start to pull it on before I hear both Weiss and Ruby scream, and as I go to see what happened, Ruby dives past me onto the bed.

"What happened?"

"She had just gotten out of the shower…" She says with her head buried in a pillow.

"No towel?" I ask.

I see the pillow nod, and start to giggle.

"It's not funny!" She yells from under the pillow.

"You both get embarrassed so easily!"

"I've seen more of my partner naked than my girlfriend, how does that work?!"

"True enough, but that's because if I were to get naked right now, you'd want to go at it like rabbits."

"I have more self control than…"

I pull my shirt back off, and start to pull my shorts down.

She backtracks, "No! You were right, so don't strip!"

"Thank you for proving my point." I say, pulling my clothes back on, "Hey Weiss! You dressed?" I yell.

"Yes!" She yells back.

I walk over, leaving Ruby blushing into a pillow.

"What do you need?" Weiss asks, her face still slightly red with embarrassment.

"Ruby was coming over to ask if you would need her to be here over the next couple days."

"Not particularly, why does she need to know?"

"I'm going home for a couple days and she wants to come with me, but I wanted to make sure she wouldn't be missing anything too substantial."

"There's nothing I couldn't catch her up on once she gets back, I'm assuming it's something important?"

"I'm going to put flowers on my parents' graves…"

"Say no more, she'll be caught up by me when she gets back, no worries."

"I have to clear the trip with Ozpin; otherwise, she'll still be with you in classes tomorrow."

"Ok, tell her to behave in Atlas, I don't want to hear from my father about some insane redhead running through downtown."

I laugh a bit, "We'll be in the mountains, so if we manage to get to Inner Atlas and cause trouble, I'll be surprised."

"How are you going to get there?"

"I was thinking about blinking there and then flying back."

"Flying on your own or in a plane?"

"I never thought about the fact I would have to specify, but on a plane."

"I can have my father send a private plane there, if you would accept it."

"What? No, that's really not necessary…"

"No, I insist, because I know you won't have enough aura for a round trip, even if you recover some while you're there."

"I have some other things I'm doing while there that will take up what I have left, but I think taking a regular flight back would be better, it means I get to show her around Inner Atlas."

"I can get them to go to the airport, because you and I both know that taking flights from Atlas hasn't been the safest practice over the past couple years."

"Ozpin told me about the bombings, I'm sure that couldn't have been the Fang…"

"A member of the Fang came and confessed to knowing about it beforehand."

"They were doing heavy investment into training soldiers, not explosive devices, I would know."

She sighs, "I guess you and Blake would, but whether it was the Fang or not, there is still the possibility that another attack could occur and I'm not letting my best friend and my partner go on a potentially deadly flight."

"I hope you realize the two of us could probably survive most explosions, and I can fly so…"

She walks over and slaps me, "Just accept the private flight already, it couldn't hurt to be safe, and I'm positive you can't have a valid passport."

I hold my hand over my cheek, "Ok, I'll call when we need pickup, how fast are we talking?"

"Can get you from Atlas International to Beacon in under an hour."

"At least it will be a short flight…"

"You don't like flying?"

"I love flying, just not in a enclosed metal container."

"Tell me when you can fly subsonic, and then we can talk."

"I'll be sure to let you know."

I turn to leave, only to have the door flung open by Yang who had Blake in her arms, the two locked in a deep, lustful kiss.

"Really?" I ask.

Yang instantly jerks back, her and Blake blushing furiously, "We thought the room would be empty…"

"And what were you planning on doing with the room being empty?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Quick make-out session…" Yang says.

"I want you to tell the truth…"

"Neither of us were going to be able to stand up."

"I should be able to come after you since Blake is my best friend, if you can come after me for Ruby instigating things."

"We are in a relationship…"

"So are Ruby and I…"

"We're both seventeen…"

"Ruby is about to be sixteen and I only just turned seventeen…"

"And this isn't our first relationship."

I stop, "You've dated before Blake?"

"I was in a relationship in the Fang, it didn't go very far, but it was a relationship nonetheless." She says, still in Yang's arms.

"I think Ruby doesn't know what's best for her right now, you two haven't dated long enough for her to really know…"

"How fucking dare you!" Ruby calls from the door.

"Ruby...I didn't realize…"

"You didn't realize what? That I could hear you! Who are you to judge that?"

"I'm your sis…"

"You are my sister, not my mother! It's not your job to tell me what to do in a relationship!"

She walks over and grabs the back of my head to pull me into a kiss, but it wasn't like before, it was forceful and angry.

She breaks it, "Now we're even, for all the making out we've seen from you two."

"Ruby…" I say, trying to calm her down.

"What?! You have said you're perfectly ready, but you want to wait so Yang wouldn't get set off. We both want it, but you're willing to put your own feelings aside so my sister won't be an absolute bitch! And here she and Blake go, having more of each other's pie than I have cookies!"

"That was vulgar Ruby, and I didn't say that because of Yang, I said that because I didn't know if we're ready."

"Why?"

"So that I didn't force anything on you, I didn't want us to try and you get uncomfortable about it. You were freaked out earlier by seeing Weiss, what would be different?"

"I...don't know, I just thought it would be different if it was you... I thought was holding our relationship back…"

"In a way, you are holding back our relationship, but not in a bad way, taking it slower isn't bad. I like it a lot more actually, I get to know you better."

She goes to speak, but I put my finger to her mouth and whisper to her, "We'll see about something on your birthday, sound good?"

She nods, and I take my finger back, "I don't want to hear anymore on the subject from you Yang, not when you and Blake were about to go at it."

Yang goes to talk, but then Weiss interrupts her, "She's completely right Yang, you're being way too hypocritical."

"I wanted to protect my younger sister…"

"I'm not a child Yang, I know what, or in this case who, I'm doing."

Yang's jaw drops at her sister's statement, "You're not going to Atlas alone with her…" She growls.

"I am, and you have no authority to stop me."

"Ruby Rose, I am your older sister, and I'm telling you you're not going."

I stride over to her, "You fucking bitch!" I yell as I slap her, "You think we're going for some pleasure visit?! She offered to go with me to put flowers on my parents' graves! We were totally going to fuck after that! In fact, I want you to see something…" I say, motioning her to follow me.

I walk over to my dorm, open my laptop, and spin it towards Yang with her tab displayed.

"What is all…"

"Information regarding your mother, you don't know how close I am to closing this tab and never showing you these files again. You're not looking out for Ruby's interests anymore, you're trying to control who she is, my guess is you don't want her to copy you. You don't want her to make the mistakes that you did, but I can tell you, you're going about it the wrong way. Lead by example, and if you can't follow your own advice, you shouldn't give it to others."

"I'm not fifteen…"

"You're not the age of consent either, so it's the same thing. I'm not about to continue to argue with you about this, but if you keep trying this crap and Ruby's feelings get hurt, then know that I'll be out for blood, got it?" I say, switching my eye color to red for dramatic effect.

Her reaction shows it had the desired effect, "I understand, but don't think I won't bust your skull if you do anything sexual…"

"We already did, so fucking try me, we both know how this ends."

She goes to swing before Blake goes behind her and grabs her arm, "We don't have any room to talk, so you can stop, now."

Yang still looks ready to follow through with the punch, "If you don't stop, I'm breaking up with you Yang."

Yang instantly drops to her knees, "Why would you…"

"I've never been a person who enjoys using violence to get what she wants, it's the reason I left the Fang, and that's exactly what you're doing. I love you, but you have the right to advise your sister, not control her. You and I both know Sierra would never do anything to hurt Ruby, so get that notion out of your head. We also know Ruby is very smart and responsible for someone her age, so she should be able to make her own decisions regarding her relationship. It's hard to let go of your younger sister and watch her grow up, but you have to realize that is exactly what's happening."

"Were you serious about leaving me?"

Blake sighs, "Probably not…"

Yang grabs her by the waist, "Please don't, I don't know if I could take that…"

"Then I won't, and I won't use it as a bargaining chip anymore as long as you stay out of your sister's relationship."

"If it means staying with you then I'll do anything."

"You really love Blake don't you?" I ask her.

"Of course I do we're in a…"

I interrupt her, "It's just that I've never heard you two say you love each other."

The two looked between each other, "Really?" They replied in unison.

"I haven't, have you Rubes?" I ask.

"Nope, Weiss?"

"I haven't either."

"Then I guess we should, I love you Yang."

"I love you too Blake." And they kiss.

But it wasn't like the one they were sharing coming into their dorm, it wasn't lust, it was loving and soft.

"It's good to see your relationship isn't just friends with benefits…"

"I hope that isn't how everyone saw our relationship." Yang sighs in relief.

"I doubt it, but either way, can we put this behind us?" I say, extending my hand to her.

"I'm still not sure about letting you and my little sis go any further right now, but I'll let Rubes make her own decisions as long as she uses protection." She says, shaking my hand and giggling near the end.

"At least that's something you'll never have a problem with, what would happen if Ruby told you she was pregnant with my child?"

"I would beat you within an inch of your life and then tell our dad, who would let you heal so he could do it again himself."

I gulp, "Well, glad that's not an issue…"

"Sierra, we need to go see Ozpin before we leave."

"I guess we should go then, we should be back in about three days if everything goes to plan, but knowing me, they won't."

"Get some souvenirs for all of us from Atlas, I would love a snow globe." Yang grins.

"We should be able to stop by some gift shops on the way to the airport, so any specifics for you Blake?"

"A t-shirt? I don't really know, just whatever you think would suit me."

"We'll find something, come on Sierra, let's go!"

"Have you even packed yet?"

When she doesn't answer, I turn back to see rose petals fluttering to the floor, a second later, Ruby reappears with a bag over her shoulder.

"I have packed, see?"

"Ok then, let's go see Oz and hopefully get approval for the two of us to go."

We start our way towards Ozpin's office, Ruby lacing her hand with mine as we went.

We pass several people in the halls, each congratulating us on our relationship.

"We really haven't gone out as a couple around the school, have we?"

"You've been busy teaching, I've been busy learning, so we haven't really been a couple outside the dorms and our dates."

"You want to go to the dance with me then? Show the school we are a thing?"

"Nah, I was thinking of going with Weiss…" She says, teasing me.

"You would cheat on me for your partner? That's so not cool."

"I don't know, I think if we'd never met, I would be with Weiss."

"But we did meet…"

She laughed a bit, "Do you know how close I was to not meeting you, Blake, and Weiss?"

I shake my head no, "An advertisement for a new scope…"

I give her a confused look, "I was walking in Vale after going by to see my uncle, and I saw an ad for a weapons magazine talking about the latest scopes. I went in the store to pick up a copy, and then Torchwick's goons robbed the place."

"The ones that you stopped to get into Beacon?"

She nods, "Well, do you know how close I was to not meeting you guys?"

She shakes her head no, "A friendly man letting me borrow a pen."

"The applications for Beacon were due in a couple days, but since I was in Atlas, I needed at least two days for my response to get back to Ozpin. The post office was about to close on the day I needed to have my letter in the mail, but I needed to put a return address. One of their truck drivers let me borrow a pen to write it with, if he hadn't, my yes response to Ozpin wouldn't have gotten here in time."

"Do you think us meeting was always going to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, would that man always give you that pen and would that shop owner always put up that ad?"

"No, in fact, it's more likely that this was one of the only timelines in which we met in the way we did."

"We'll never know for sure though."

"I guess not, well we're here." I say as I open Ozpin's door.

We walk in to find Ozpin in a heated conversation with General Ironwood.

"The reason those troops are here Ozpin is as a protective force during the tournament."

"And what threat are you aware of that would take such a large number of droids?"

"A potential White Fang attack, nothing definite, but a real possibility from the intel we've received."

He spots me and Ruby, "Eavesdropping on a military officer, I could have you both tried for treason."

"I believe the officer would be at fault for discussing official military business while in the headmaster's public office that every student has access to. Ruby and I need to speak with the headmaster, so if you're finished, I would like to discuss the matter with him in private."

"What matter would you be discussing?" Ironwood asks.

"Not one that you need any hand in…"

"I'm going to ask again as the general of Atlas military with a large warship full of droids above Beacon, tell me exactly what you were going to be talking about…"

I turn to Ozpin, winking at him slightly before continuing, "I remember you saying something about being a wedding officiant…"

"Yes, I am, why would you need to know?"

"Ruby and I have been thinking about...that possibility."

I squeeze Ruby's hand and she blushes to add to the effect.

"You know now, so get out!" Ruby yells at Ironwood.

"Really, the two of you are going to elope?" He starts laughing, "There's no way you were ever cut out to be general."

"I don't give a flying fuck whether I'm cut out to be general or not, now as I said, this doesn't concern you."

"I guess I just expected something more devious from Grey's daughter." He says, walking out of the office.

"You weren't being serious about eloping were you?" Ozpin asks after the door closes.

"Not right now," I say as Ruby blushed again, "but I'd prefer Ironwood not know exactly where I am for the next couple of days. I was coming to ask for leave."

"Granted, but I'm assuming Miss Rose wishes to accompany you?"

"I have given her permission to do so, should she get approval from you."

He turns to Ruby, "I'm pretty sure I know where you two are heading, and I will let you go on the condition that you be respectful at Jonathan and Angel's graves."

"I will be as respectful as possible." She says, bowing slightly.

"How long do you plan to be away?"

"Three days tops, if everything goes to plan, I want to show Ruby around Atlas a bit after we're done at home."

"Be safe while you're there, Grimm have been popping up on the mountain more and more since you and your siblings haven't been using them for target practice."

"Ruby and I can handle ourselves against some beowolves and a couple ursa, and we both know Ruby can take down a nevermore."

"I know you can as well, your father showed me the videos."

"Which one did you prefer, the one bare-handed or the one with my swords?"

"Barehanded, it was definitely more… interesting."

I wave as we go, "See you soon Ozpin."

**Ozpin 3rd Person P.O.V**

" _I hope to see you soon as well, but I'm not sure how soon you'll be seeing me if Ironwood is going to continue to pester me."_

"Headmaster, Qrow Branwen is here to see you." Goodwitch calls in.

"Let him in." Ozpin says, taking a sip of coffee.

"I'm assuming by your call that she is on track to find out then?" Qrow asks.

"I can't tell you how long it will be, but she is just as smart as her father and it won't be hard for her to put it together once she has all the pieces."

"Could we even stop her?"

"No, if she were to lose it, no amount of hunters and huntresses could stand against her. Only one person could stop her, your niece."

"What does my niece have to do with all this?"

"Sierra and Ruby have started dating…"

"And you let them?!"

"I'm not taking someone else she loves from her!"

"You act like we had a choice! It came down to a vote, and we lost Oz."

"This one came down to me, and I let her make their own choice."

"So?! My niece is dating a time bomb!"

"She has everything under control…"

"So she was in control when she hurt Ruby and Yang…"

"I didn't tell you that so you could use it against her, I told you that to make sure you knew what you are up against if everything goes wrong. We need a plan."

"I'm not going down without a fight Oz…"

"I expected nothing less, but my niece will kill you for what you've done."

"She isn't your niece, and you're just as guilty for not telling Jonathan before it was too late."

"I regret not telling him, but all it would have done is cause relations between Atlas and Vale to be worse than they already are."

"And the relations between the AHH and Remnant would be destroyed, they certainly weren't hiding their involvement." Qrow adds.

"Atlas' intent was clear, we weren't going to stand by and let it happen."

"Tell yourself what you need to so you can sleep at night, we murdered people Oz. And your niece has too."

"She did what she had to make sure she and others survived, and she is unaware that we know about her time in captivity."

"You and I know, but the AHH doesn't."

"They don't need to know they have a living weapon within their arms reach ever again. We both know what happened to the last one."

"And I will never forgive you for leaving her to die…"

"Summer chose that path, and she chose to take that mission."

"I'm still in the dark on those details and I know you lied to Taiyang."

"I didn't tell him, the AHH sent a representative directly."

"They knew you'd try and tell him?"

"Of course, and I still plan to once we figure out what actually happened to Summer."

"You know she died on a mission, what more do you need?"

"Whether she can be brought back or not."

"What are you talking…"

"I have read and made copies of Sierra's research notes into alchemy, and she has the suspicions that it could be possible to bring her back…" Ozpin says, handing over some papers.

"Under what conditions?" Qrow asks as he flips through the pages.

"I'm not sure, Sierra's notes are incomplete, so I'm sure she's going off prior knowledge."

"Prior knowledge?"

"She's tried before… I'm guessing that's what happened to her arm."

"Her mother?"

"That would be my assumption, but I couldn't tell you for sure."

"Then why isn't her mother with her now?"

"She failed, that much is clear, but she never wrote down why."

"Then why not attempt it ourselves?"

"She's told Ruby not to attempt it, and I assume she has a reason."

"My niece understands this gibberish?"

"Ruby asked Sierra for lessons, and yes, she's come quite far in her understanding."

"Where are they now?"

"They left for Atlas just before you arrived…"

"You let my niece go to a different country alone with an emotional time bomb?!"

"She has herself under control, and Sierra didn't force Ruby to go, Ruby asked to go with her."

Qrow sighs, "What are they doing there?"

"They're going to put flowers on Sierra's parents' graves, after that, some sightseeing, then they'll be on there way back here."

"By the fact I don't sense my niece's aura, I assume Sierra has a means of instant transport?"

"Yes, any where she has been where she knows the coordinates and can picture it in her mind, she can instantly teleport. Though it drains her the farther the destination is from her starting point."

"Do you know what happens if she runs out mid-teleport?"

"She'll come out wherever the amount of aura she had would have taken her."

"Good to know…," Qrow starts, "What about this technique I've been hearing so much about?"

"You can do nothing to stop it after she's reached her elevated level or replicate it, it gives her ten times the amount of aura she has normally, which is incredibly high as it is. That's without any additions to the technique, which she can do to my understanding."

"How high could she go?"

"Not any higher very quickly, I'm not sure of the time frame that it would take for her to increase it, but it isn't quick."

"Then how can we plan for something that we're not even sure the full extent of?"

"We can't, we wait for facts and play it by ear."

"What about the AHH? If your niece figures it out, then it blows everything wide open."

"I have never supported most of the AHH's decisions, and their recent tactics have shown all they really want is power over each of the kingdom's governments. That said, we can't declare war against the AHH, but Sierra could take them on by herself with the power she has gained."

"Though if that happens, Team RWBY would most likely be dragged into the conflict as well…"

"And they would be right to side with Sierra, though I expect it to be hard pill for them to swallow."

"I'm not about to let my nieces willingly throw themselves into a war Ozpin!"

"They should be allowed to make their own decision on the subject, that is especially if they figure out what you've done."

"I use a scythe for a reason…"

"So does your niece, she'll earn the title of Grimm reaper like her mother, but Grimm isn't what your scythe kills…"

"I have never killed another human being of my own free will Ozpin."

"Neither has my niece, you would be her first, and I doubt she would regret it at first. But then she would realize what she had done and mourn your loss as much as your own nieces would. She is compassionate and loves bringing joy to people who have suffered. She just recently gave away a home she had purchased here in Vale to a man who she knew from her time while kidnapped. The man has a wife and two daughters, and previously lived in a small one bedroom apartment with barely enough money to afford food after paying medical bills."

"She really doesn't want to hurt people…"

"All she wants is to make up for her past mistakes, and is willing to give up whatever she needs to in order for that to happen."

"I'll keep my eyes and ears open Oz, and I'll be around for the tournament."

"Hide your aura if you come, Sierra is very good with sensing specific auras, and there is no way she forgot what yours felt like."

Qrow stops as he's walking away, "I do regret killing Jonathan to this day Oz, I'll never forgive myself for the pain I've caused the Grey family, but I'm not going to let her lose control and hurt either of my nieces."

"I would have seriously questioned your morality if you didn't regret it, but I don't think she'll take your reasoning into question before going for your throat."

"Goodbye Ozpin…" Qrow says, flipping up his hood as he disappears in a vortex of shadow.

" _Should I be keeping this knowledge from her? That Ruby's uncle is her father's killer?"_ Are all thoughts that ran through Ozpin's head in the moments following that meeting and ones that would plague him until Sierra's return.

***Sierra P.O.V***

" _Oh shit!"_ I think before Ruby and I tumble out of my blink vortex.

"Where are we?" Ruby asks, standing.

"Halfway up the mountain my house is on, I miscalculated slightly."

"Are you ok to walk after using that much aura?"

"I think…" I say, starting to stand before falling flat on my face in the snow.

"Yeah, I'm going to carry you." She says, picking me up.

"You can carry all the stuff too?"

"No…"

"I think I can hobble if you can carry my stuff."

"I can handle that, if you could give me some directions, I could drop the stuff off and come back for you."

"Follow this path to the top, it should be at the end of the path, and the keys are in the front pocket of my bag."

Rose petals flutter to the ground, and she's gone.

I lay down in the snow, " _It feels so good to be home._ " I think, remembering the days playing in the snow with my mom and sister, before everything went wrong.

" _I can't say everything went wrong, I met Ruby after all."_

I smell roses and my girlfriend's smiling face appears above me, "Having fun?"

"A bit yeah, I have loads of good memories here."

"Let's get inside." She says, putting her arms under me.

She carries me up the path, taking it pretty slowly, so she could take in the scenery this time.

"It's beautiful up here."

"Yeah, even more so with you here."

She leans down and kisses my forehead, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We reach the front door, and Ruby pushes it open.

"Just lay me on the couch, I'll be fine in a minute."

She lays me down, and I nearly pass out from sheer exhaustion.

I drop the cloak on my ears, moving them around a bit.

"I don't know if I ever told you how cute you look with your ears showing."

"I don't think you ever did, but…" I say before stopping as I hear a noise coming from one of the bedrooms.

I jump up silently, grabbing one of my swords from my bag, motioning for Ruby to stay still.

I creep towards the rooms, my blade ready to swing at any attacker.

The noises are coming from the guest bedroom, and I slowly push open the door.

I see the person inside and stop dead in my tracks, " _It couldn't be…_ "


	14. Meeting the Family

" _It couldn't be…"_  I thought as my eyes fell upon the man going through the closet.

"Raymond?" I ask.

The man turns to me, "Angel, it's been too long!" He says walking my way.

I hold my blade up, "There's no way in hell you are Raymond! You don't look any different and it's been over nine years."

"Hold on now, you haven't given me the chance to explain…"

"Then start quickly."

"You see, I was one of alchemy's first big mistakes on Remnant… I tried to attempt what is known as a multi-matrix transmutation, your father taught you what I taught him correct?"

I nod, "Then you know that you aren't supposed to be able to use more than one matrix for each circle right? I was confident I could do it, so I attempted it, knowing failure could be costly. I opened the portal, just as you have, and I was greeted by the Truth and a second entity. The second entity was begging to become mortal, but the Truth was expressing the fact he could only exchange mortality. Then his eyes fell on me and he said, "You becoming immortal is the price you will pay for your arrogance."

My eyes widen, "You're immortal?"

"Yep, haven't aged a day in over two hundred years, and I've hated every second of it. I wanted to die with my wife by my side, instead I've been a homeless man wandering from kingdom to kingdom, hoping someone would be kind and give me a place to stay. Your father was the last person to extend that kindness, and in exchange for that, I passed down what I knew about alchemy."

"Any reason I couldn't have known this earlier?"

"Was there any good time for me to tell you?"

"Touche, what was Remnant like two hundred years ago then?"

"A lot nicer place, one where the faunus were equal to humans and discrimination was almost nonexistent."

"Then, what changed that?"

"A mistake, a faunus man killed a young human child, an accident for sure from the circumstances, but that one event caused humans to start thinking less of the fauna and over time it became the hatred that we see now."

"One child changed all of Remnant…"

"When someone says one person can't change the world, remember that."

"That doesn't explain what you're doing here after all this time."

"I needed a place to stay, and your father told me I could stay if I needed to, how's he been?"

I sigh, "He's been dead for over six years now."

"Oh, so that's what he meant."

"He meant what?"

"I told your father the last time I was here that I would be back in a couple years and he told me he wouldn't be here when I got here."

"My dad knew someone was trying to kill him? That he was going to die?"

"Apparently so kiddo, I would ask how you've been, but from your arm and your portal, I can tell you did something you shouldn't have."

"You can read my portal?" I ask, having never been able to read my own.

"Yes ma'am, yours is certainly different than mine even though they should be quite similar."

"That's a long story, but since I know it's just you now," I say, "Ruby, there's someone here I want you to meet!"

"You brought someone with you?" Ray asks

Ruby walks in, braced for a fight, "Who is this?"

"This is Raymond Lee, my father's alchemy teacher. Raymond, this is my girlfriend Ruby Rose."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Rose."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, but how can you be her father's teacher? You look younger than Ozpin."

"I'm immortal sweetie, I've been alive for more than two hundred years."

"Your immortality has something to do with alchemy doesn't it?"

"You can tell that just from looking at me?"

"No, Sierra has been trying to teach me how to read someone's portal of Truth, and I can tell yours isn't like most people's."

"Very good technique so far Miss Rose, and you're teaching others alchemy?" He asks me.

"Only her because she asked, I mostly teach advanced aura and combat classes."

"Beacon, I assume from Miss Rose's comment about Ozpin?"

"Yep, so what have you been up to for the past nine years?"

"Sightseeing, some bird watching, nothing really exciting. I was actually only stopping by to get some of the clothes I left a while back, since I never grow out of them. Only they don't seem to be around."

"Unfortunately, you won't find them, the house was burned down since the last time you were here. Ozpin is the only reason that there isn't just the tool shed and basement here."

"Well, that's unfortunate, I guess I can go buy some." He says, starting to walk out.

"Wait!" I call after him, "I have so many questions I need to..."

"I cannot answer the questions you will ask me, your father's final request for me was to let you find your own path, even if lives are in the balance."

"Raymond, you know that's insane, and I know you could help stop this."

"I made that promise to your father, and I intend to keep it, his side is the only one I'm on."

"Fine, I'll do it by myself, but is there anything you could teach me about alchemy that my father didn't know?"

"There is only one technique I didn't teach your father, and he told me not to teach it to you, knowing you would ask at some point."

I frown, "However, he said if you could figure out the message, then I could teach it to you."

"Mess…" I say before looking down at my necklace.

"Follow the mark?" I ask.

"That's the one, so I'm guessing you haven't figured it out yet?"

I shake my head no, "Well, if you need me, just perform a transmutation only you would know and I'll be on my way."

"It was nice to see you again."

"You as well, I'm sorry for not being here for you once your father died." He says, turning away from me.

"That wasn't your responsibility, so don't worry about it."

He turns back from the door to look at me, "The path you've chosen will require even more sacrifice in future, I hope you know that…"

"I've known that for a long time, but it's too late for me to turn back now, too many people are counting on me."

"As for you Miss Rose, Angel will be there for you need it, all you have to do is return the favor."

"I knew that already…"

"Not in the way I just told you, you cannot always look at face value for the meaning." He says, pulling his sleeves down, but not before I caught a glimpse of a transmutation circle tattooed just above his wrist .

"You're not going to tell me what that circle on your arm is about?"

He chuckles, "I think you'll find out soon enough." He says, walking out the front door, the wind slamming the door behind him.

"He always was very cryptic, but that's excessive even for him." I comment.

"Any idea what he meant?" Ruby asks.

"No clue about what he said to you, though I'm always going to be here for you."

"It will come to me I guess…"

I yawn, "I wasn't expecting that, but now I'm super tired. Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure, what are you going to cook?"

I walk into the kitchen, "I've got enough flour for some pancakes, and Raymond seems to have left us some eggs and milk, so pancakes?"

"That's fine by me."

I make the batter real quick, adding a bit more sugar than normal for my girlfriend's sake.

I grab one of the bigger pans, and let it heat up for a minute.

Pretty soon, the smell of pancakes was in the air, and Ruby was hovering behind me, waiting for her food.

"I should have asked Raymond if he wanted to stay for dinner."

"I would have been a nice gesture, but I would prefer it just be the two of us."

"Yeah, a nice pancake dinner with my girlfriend, I kind of like the sound of that."

I slide the pancakes out of the pan, giving us both two pancakes the size of our heads.

"I hope you're hungry."

"These smell great, when did you learn to cook?"

"I got my my dad to teach me all my mom's old recipes when she died, I wanted to be as good as she was for my younger sister."

"I never had your mom's, but these are fantastic!"

"Thank you, another thing I haven't done for someone outside our family."

"Do you cater?" She asks smiling.

"Are you interested?"

"I remember Weiss saying something about not being able to find someone to cater the dance."

"You were being serious?"

"Yeah, I know Weiss would appreciate having that covered."

"No caterer in Vale is willing to do it?"

"No, but apparently everyone and their brother is having all their events on the night of the dance."

"What kind of food are we talking and how much?"

"You know, something classy, but nothing too overboard. Amount wise, we'd be looking at enough to feed the entirety of Beacon."

"What about? Chicken parmesan as the main course and some side dishes, maybe a couple grab and go snacks?"

"Sounds great to me, you would have to clear it with Weiss, but it also seems like you would need some help."

"We can get some volunteers, there have to be at least a couple people at Beacon who are at least competent in the kitchen."

"That sounds great, and since you're going to be using Beacon's kitchen it should be cheaper for Weiss."

"I would do it for free, but I kind of want a bit of spending money to throw around…"

"You just gave Christy and Ivan ten thousand lien, and said you had plenty."

"I do, but it's in a trust fund and I only get four hundred lien a month to spend, that ten thousand was for emergencies."

Ruby goes to say something, "And yes, I qualify Ivan and Christy's money problems as an emergency."

"If you think you could handle the task, you can discuss your price with Weiss when we get back. So where are we sleeping?"

"I don't know if my old bed would fit the two of us very well, there was my parents old queen bed, which might still be in the basement. We're both going to have to go down there in order to get it up the stairs."

"Ok, lead the way."

I open the door to the basement and a gust of cold air flows past me and Ruby.

The light comes on as we walk down the stairs, and the expanse of boxes was just as big as I remembered.

"It should be right over…" I start before I freeze.

"Sierra, what's wrong?" I hear Ruby ask.

Then suddenly, I wasn't standing there with Ruby anymore, I was standing ,on my own, looking at a long since erased transmutation circle.

" _How is this here?_ "

The corpse sat where it had all those years ago, chest rising and falling showing me that is was still alive.

"Mom?"

"Sierra…" The corpse croaked.

"Then the transmutation wasn't a complete failure…"

"Why didn't you save your mother?"

"I tried mom, but I…"

"You didn't try hard enough. I'm gone because you failed…"

"I'll find a way to…"

"You can never fix this, I'm...gone...forever." The corpse says as it falls to ashes.

I try to turn away and run, only to find myself face to face with my father, the knife that killed him still embedded in his chest.

"You weren't fast enough…" He says

"Alchemy didn't work and I didn't know what I could…"

"You should have been the one killed that night, your brother and sister need me more than they need you."

"You're...right." I tell him, realizing how badly I had failed my siblings and how much better it would have been had my father been there.

"They're dead because you weren't strong enough…"

"You're wrong! They aren't dead! I would know if they died!"

"You would? You can't even figure out who killed me."

I go to retort, but my father is instantly consumed by the shadows surrounding him.

A figure emerges from their depths, "I'm sorry." The hooded figures says.

"Who are you?! Why did you kill my father!?"

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry…" The figure repeats.

I pull my blades from my back, slicing the figure in two at the waist.

I flip the hood down and it's Ruby, she grips my hand as blood pours from below her waist, "Why would you do that to me? You said you loved me." She finishes before her grip on my hand falters

"No, Ruby, I didn't know it was you, don't leave me please…"

"I can't lose you too, no, come back to me."

"You can only hurt people, you never help…" I turn my head around to see the nine kids that were held in Research Facility Four with me, my siblings included.

"We're all dead because of you...they hunted each one of us down and killed us…"

"No...all of you can't be dead…"

"Accept that we're gone...it will make you feel better…" My siblings said.

"Never! You're not gone and I will find you both!"

"Don't lie to yourself, accept it." The whole group voiced.

"I won't! I promise I will find every single one of you!" I yell, watching them vanish one by one.

I sighed, thinking it was finally over, only to be thrust into a familiar looking room.

" _Why am I back in the portal?"_

"I asked him to bring you by while you were in a state to enter the portal without cost to your aura…" A voice said from behind me.

I turn to look at what I thought was an older version of Ruby, until I thought about where I was.

"Summer Rose?"

"You must be Jonathan's oldest daughter, I am Summer Rose."

"How are you here?"

"I honestly don't know, but I know I owe your father more than words can express…" She says rolling up her sleeve to reveal a small transmutation circle, one that matched the circle I had seen on Raymond before he left, "This seal is what has allowed me to stay alive for this long, but I fear that the bond between this seal and the one on Remnant is becoming weaker."

"How long do you think it will last?"

"Another five years max, but then I'll die here."

"No! I'm working on a way to get you out, I just need a philosopher's stone and then I should be able to pull it off."

"You realize how hard the stones are to find correct? There isn't one known on Remnant."

"I can find a way, I have to…"

"Why do you care Miss Grey? I see no reason for you to want to risk so much to help me."

I gulp, "I'm...dating your daughter."

She laughs a bit, "Ruby was always finding ways to get herself in trouble, even when she was little, so it only makes sense she'd want to date a trouble magnet like you."

"I need to know Summer, the AHH lied about you dying in a Grimm nest, so how did you actually die?"

"I can't tell you more than you already know because, unfortunately, the Truth is listening. Though I can pass on a message, from your father when he passed through here on his way to the other side. He says he wants you to know he loves you, and that you shouldn't blame yourself for his death. He also wants you to keep following your instincts, and once you reach the end of the trail, the surface will be shallow."

I turn to my portal preparing to leave, since the two of us really couldn't talk anymore if the Truth was listening, "Before you go, make sure Ruby and Yang stay safe, because if by some miracle you get us both out of here alive in the end, I want to be able to see my family alive and well. That doesn't mean giving yourself up in exchange for me, my daughter would be devastated."

"I will do my best, but is there anything else you can tell me while I'm here?"

She gets a look of concentration on her face, "Visit Weiss' mother in person while you're in Atlas, you might find some things about her ward mate ... interesting."

"Good to know, and thank you for your help."

"It will be nothing if you can get me out of here and back to my family."

I pull open the doors, but then I hear Summer call out to me, "Don't tell Ruby we spoke, I don't want her to get her hopes up!" She yells as I'm pulled back through the portal.

" _If I do tell her,_   _I won't be getting her hopes up, I'll be telling her exactly what I plan to do."_

I sit up in my old bed, my entire body felt sore and I couldn't tell you how thirsty I was.

I slide the blanket off me and try to stand, only for my legs to be asleep, causing me to fall to the floor.

I hear footsteps coming towards the room and Ruby opens the door.

"Thank Oum, you're awake." She says, coming over to crush me in a Yang style hug.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I croak out, my throat drier than a desert.

"Hold on, let me get you some water…" She says, disappearing, leaving behind her usual rose petals

She returns and hands me a cup of water, "To answer your question, you've been asleep for nearly two days now…"

"What?! It really didn't feel like that long." I say, after taking a long sip and setting the cup on the floor.

"At first, I thought it was just your body trying to recover some aura, but then you started to toss and turn, you had a fever too. I called Blake to see if she knew what was happening, she said that she thought it was a reaction to a really bad memory."

"When we went into the basement, how quickly did I black out?"

"Almost instantly."

"Sounds about right, the place I was looking at was the location where the transmutation circle was when I tried to bring my mom back."

"I want to go through this with you, because I know that couldn't have been the only thing you saw." She says, sitting behind me, motioning for me to lay back.

I lean into her shoulder, "I saw the corpse that I made that night, it told me it was my fault that my mother isn't with me right now, and that she was gone forever because of me."

"I tried to run, only my father was behind me, he said I could have saved him if I was faster that I should have died instead of him, and that my siblings would have been better off that way."

"Then the shadows engulfed my dad, and the hooded figure that killed him stood in his place."

"I pulled my swords and sliced the figure in two but…" I stop as I start to cry.

"It was you and you asked why I killed you if I said I loved you."

"Then I saw the nine kids I was held with, they said that they'd all been hunted down and killed."

"My siblings were among them, they told me to accept that they were gone and that I'd feel better once I did."

"I told them I wouldn't and they vanished."

"And that was all of it." I say, remembering Summer's order to keep quiet.

"You used to have some really horrible nightmares, didn't you?" She asks.

"I haven't had any in over a month, ever since we started dating and sharing a bed."

"What were they like before?"

"Is it okay for me to say I don't want to talk about them? They're in the past, so I don't want to get hung up on them."

She sighs, "Ok then, what's the schedule now?"

"Either we're not going to be able to do much sightseeing or we're going to be in Atlas a longer than I thought."

"I'm fine with staying a bit longer, if we only stay for two days, I'll only miss one extra day of class and then we'll get back over the weekend."

"That's fine by me, so I guess today's the day to go...see my parents."

"If you're up for it, then so am I."

"Grab your jacket, the flowers, and then I can fly the two of us over."

A puff of rose petals later and she reappears with her jacket on, flowers in hand, "Ready."

We walk into the front room where my bag was still laid on the floor, I grab my specially designed winter jacket.

"Here we go then." I say, pushing my wings out of the special holes in my jacket.

I open the front door, letting Ruby go in front of me.

I extend my wings fully, "Let me do a warm up lap or two." I say, as I do my usual running take off over the edge of the mountain.

I dive for a minute before pulling myself into a steep climb above my house.

I always loved the way our house looked, the majority of the building hanging above the side of the mountain, as if it could fall at any second.

I circled around, banking over Ruby, down towards the side of the house.

I smiled, thinking of the times after I got used to flying that my dad would tease me by throwing me over the balcony, and my love of the few second freefall before flying back up to land back in my father's arms.

I land in front of Ruby, "You look so happy when you're flying, is it really that much fun on your own?"

"I don't know, you'll have to tell me when you try it for yourself." I say as I grab her under the arms, "You're going to have to hold onto me for this take off to work."

She hooks her arms with mine, "Ok, let's go."

I walk to the edge of the cliff, we both take a deep breath, and I let myself fall forward.

A few quick strokes of my wings, and Ruby and I are off towards the other side of the mountain.

"Why are your parents' graves so far from your house?" Ruby shouts over the wind.

"We own the mountain, so I guess my father just wanted to give the dead a sacred place."

"You own the mountain?"

"Yep, we used to only own the house, but after my father's exceptional service to Atlas, they gave him the rights to nearly the entirety of the mountain as part of his retirement."

"Your dad must have been a great guy, I wish I could have met him…"

"I'm sure he would have loved to meet you too, but we're here." I say, going into a dive, "Let go and use your aura as a landing pad."

She does so, landing square in the middle of her aura pad.

I go for my usual tuck and roll landing, bringing myself into a standing position beside Ruby.

"Good to see you've been practicing." I say, brushing some snow off my jacket.

"You said you would take my cookies away if I didn't keep up with what you taught us."

I laugh a bit, "I did say that when we we're training didn't I?"

"I don't think I would have done nearly as well without that threat though."

"They're just through these trees." I say as I start walking.

The clearing wasn't very big, which I assume was my father's intention when he cleared it out after my mother's death.

There were only two gravestones, but I knew there were three bodies buried here, one of them of my own creation.

The two official graves were angled towards each other slightly, my father's will requested for him to be buried in that way to compliment my mother.

" _Now that Raymond said that, it really does seem like my father put everything in place just before he died, but he couldn't have seen something like that coming, right?"_

"Sierra, whatcha thinkin about?"

I sigh, "You've gotten really good at reading me, I was thinking about Raymond told me, the fact that my father might have known that someone was going to kill him."

"That's a given isn't it? He was the commander of Atlas' military, that's bound to make him some enemies right?"

"Yeah, but it seems like such a long time after he resigned to start thinking about enemies, even if he was still technically an advisor."

"Something or someone could have tipped him off before hand, but he didn't appear panicked or off to you?"

"No, he didn't say something was wrong, usually if he even thought anything was off, he'd tell me or Matt."

"Let's discuss it when we get back to your house because I'm getting cold…"

"Of course, I forget you're not as used to the cold as I am."

I walk over to the two headstones, "Hey Mom, Dad, there's someone here I want you to meet…"

"My name's Ruby, Sierra and I have been dating, so I thought it would be nice to meet you."

An eerie silence settled over the clearing, and I laid the two bouquets of flowers on the stones.

But then I noticed how reflective a piece of the front face of my father's tombstone was, I dug out the snow around my mothers in the same area to find a similar strip of material.

" _Most people would think that was just decorative, but my father never was one for aesthetics, only functionality. I also don't remember that being on my mother's before my dad died."_

"Ruby, did you bring your scroll with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Shine the flashlight on the back towards that little strip of reflective material on my mom's grave."

She does, the reflected beam of light stretches off into the forest.

"Ok, hold mine in the same way, but shine it on my dad's." I say, handing her my scroll.

Again the light shines off into the depths of the forest, but the two beams look like they would hit each other at some point.

" _Let's see what my dad wanted to show me."_  I think.

"Hold them still, I want to see where the two cross." I say, running off towards the inevitable intersection.

I weave through the trees, being ultra careful not to lose the beam as it got harder and harder to see.

" _Only a faunus with exceptional sight could follow this, which means my father meant for me or Kurome to find it."_

I started to get worried as the light started to get cut off by several trees, but then I saw what looked like a cliff face.

The light had barely reached its destination, only a small dot of the two crossed lights remained, but it still lead me there and my father wouldn't have put it together if there wasn't something at the end.

I pull off my glove and began to run my hand over the surface of the rock.

I felt an incision, a grove that was much too straight for a natural crack to have formed.

I use my automail to pry at the rock, pulling the separate sheet from the existing rock.

It was only a small, hollowed out little room, not even large enough for me to fit my head in.

I look inside and see a faint reflection of sunlight off of something metallic.

I put my arm in and felt around until I hit something, I got a strong grip and pulled a journal from within the small cave.

" _This looks just like the one that guy had in James' memories, are they the same?"_

I open the cover, thinking there would be the same message as before, only to find a different message, " _I know you will be the one to the one to find this Sierra, be warned the contents of each of these journals are not pleasant, and that I did not willing take part in this research, it was simply part of my commission as a high ranking officer in Atlas' military."_

" _This is all my father's handwriting, but what could be in these journals?"_

I flip through the pages, noting just how many alchemical notes there were and the scale of some of the transmutations.

" _All of these transmutations revolve around dust, my guess is my father divided his research between several journals, since I can assume the one that researcher was using on James was based on aura."_

" _Dust infused heart, dust bone transfusion… All of this sounds awful, but from these notes, there's no denying the results were...successful."_

" _I need to get back to Ruby, I really don't want her to get frostbite."_

I started to follow the light back when I realized how young some of the trees were.

" _I wonder if that's what my father had intended, that the trees would eventually grow to block the beams and then no one would be able to find this if I didn't get here in time."_

I got back to find Ruby shivering, "Do you want me to blink us back?"

"Yes...please." She gets out through her clattering teeth.

I grab her hand and pull us through back to my house.

"I can get a fire going in the fireplace, or do you want to just take a hot bath?"

"A bath ssounds...ggreat." She clatters out.

"Ok, take your jacket off and hang it by the door, while I run you a bath."

I go to my old bathroom, run the bath, and grab a towel from the closet.

"It's ready!" I call to her.

She walks in and I hand her the towel.

I start to walk out, "Sierra…" I hear Ruby start.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to… join me?"

My jaw drops, "I can't believe you would ask something like that after..." I practically yell.

She instantly backtracks, "No, not to do that, just so you could hold me."

"I didn't bring a swimsuit, so…"

"Here…" she says pouring some of the old bubble bath I had sitting on the edge into the water, stirring it to make the bubbles cover the surface, "I'll close my eyes when you get in and out."

I sigh, "You really want me to?"

She nods, "I don't think…" I start before Ruby gives me her puppy dog eyes. "I guess I have no choice then," I say, pulling off my jacket, "Let me go take my arm off, you get in and I'll be right back ok?"

I walk over to my old room, and I grabbed one of my countless wrenches.

" _This is going to suck with how cold my automail is._ "

I grab a pillow from my old bed, cover my mouth, and push the wrench down.

My scream was muffled by the pillow, and I walk back in to find Ruby giving me an odd look from the bath.

"Why did you scream?"

I growl, slightly annoyed she heard me, "My automail clasp is painful to take off when it gets really cold."

"You should have soaked it for a second, it won't hurt it right?"

"It's fine if I dry it after, but I didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"You should have just asked, but now you can get in and relax."

I strip, she closes her eyes as I get undressed and climb into the tub, just as she'd said.

I slide behind her, letting her lay back against me.

"Stretch your wings out, there's no way you're comfortable lying on them."

"At your request…"

I fold them out and Ruby begins to run her hands over them.

"It's incredible how you can't see your wings when they're folded up the way you usually have them."

"I hope you realize that I basically tie them down with bandages so people won't see them."

"Have you ever tried going without the bandages?"

"I do when I'm with someone I trust, but I don't really risk it around other people."

"I have never understood why people would hate you for something you couldn't help."

"I really can't understand it either, Raymond said it was because a faunus man killed a human child, and that just started the ball rolling."

"I think your attributes make you special, different from everybody else."

"Now I'm really different from everybody else…" I say, moving the ears on the top of my head around.

"They are really cute, I hope you know that."

"Yeah, but sometimes I wonder if I'm more animal than human with more than one trait."

"You want me to show you you're not?" She says, turning to look me in the eyes.

"Ruby...I know what you're thinking from that look in your eyes, and you said we wouldn't be doing that."

"What? Other than dolphins, humans and fauna are the only species that do "that" for pleasure."

"And where did that fact come from?"

"Some research I did on dolphins, they're one of my favorite animals."

"What if I told you my beach house in Mistral has quite a few dolphins hanging around in the summertime?"

"Really? Can we go?" She says, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"We'll have to see," Then I start thinking, "Actually, what if it would be a reward when you do well in the tournament?"

"Then I'll have to win that tournament, for both of us, if you decide not to participate. Have you finally made up your mind?"

"I think I will enter, but only because you asked me to slow down a little."

After a couple minutes of us just lying together in the water, I get an idea.

I scoop up a load of the foam from the bubble bath, and while Ruby had her eyes closed, smothered her face in it.

"Hey!" She says, picking up some of her own and getting it all over my wings.

I start splashing suds at her and she fires back, the two of us playing like little kids in the tub.

"Stop, ok, ok you win." I say, suds coating my wings, face, and back, "Since you won that little battle, I'll let you finish cleaning up, while I go make the two of us some hot chocolate."

"I want marshmallows in mine if it isn't too much trouble."

I turn on the shower head and Ruby closes her eyes as I stand up to rinse off.

She leaves her eyes closed as I get out, and I wrap myself in a towel before going to get some new clothes.

I hear her start the showerhead after I start to pull my clothes on, and I go to the kitchen to get the hot chocolate ready.

I start mixing up the warm milk and the chocolate, then I feel arms wrap around my waist.

"You are too good at cooking…"

"Is that a bad thing?

"No, it's just that I've never really been good at it…"

"I would gladly teach you how to cook, but you have to promise not to give out my mom's recipes."

"You would get mad at me if I did, so I won't."

"That's the only reason?"

"Yep," She says, popping the p, "I don't like seeing you mad."

"You've never seen me really angry Ruby, and I hope you never have to."

"I'll do what I can to make sure I never have to."

I pour the warm mixture into two mugs, put marshmallows into Ruby's, and

hand the mug over to her.

"I wish Vale was colder so I could have this more."

"Just ask and I'll make it for you, it doesn't have to be cold."

"I want a cup of this on my birthday."

"No problem…" As I start thinking, I realize what I promised I'd do while I was here.

"Shit…" I mumble under my breath.

"What?"

"I told you about James right?" She nods, "Well, there are more like him and I promised one of them, Shade, that I would help him in the same way I helped James on our second day here, but…"

"You were passed out for it and didn't do it, right?"

I nod, "It is really advantageous for me to help him though. From my understanding, each Lost One I help gains me another boost to ascension if I do it properly."

"That sounds insane, so if you help Shade, you'll have ten times your previous amount?"

"That's right."

"So you'd have one hundred times your normal levels?"

"I'd assume so, but it's not like I could ask someone whether we're right or not."

"So if Lost Ones keep coming to you, you could just keep going?"

"In theory, yes."

"So I'm basically dating a goddess?"

I blush, "I guess if you want to think about it that way…"

"Then let me kiss my all powerful Angel…" She says, taking my hot chocolate from my hand and kissing me.

I take a play from Yang's book and sweep her off her feet. Which, I might add, is also harder with one hand.

I walk the two of us over to the loveseat, and start to lay down, before Ruby uses our momentum to flip herself on top.

"You seem to think you can do that all the time and get away with it."

"It's not like you try to stop me…"

"You've got a point I guess."

"Shut up…" She says, silencing me with another kiss.

I feel her about to try with her tongue again, "I want to try something different with that." I say, pulling away.

"What?"

"Stick your tongue out."

She does, "Now close your eyes."

I start licking her tongue, going over every inch without the restraint of her mouth.

"Let me do you." She says, stopping me after a minute or two.

I do it, unsure of whether it was the right call or not, but when her tongue glosses over mine, it felt like I was in heaven.

She pulls me into a kiss after she's done, her hands running along my sides and down towards my…

I pull away, "Ruby, what are you…"

"I was going to do what we've both wanted to do."

"Why is this such a constant thing with you?"

"We're in a relationship, is that not what you do in a relationship?"

"Not this soon, we've only been…"

"So what? It's our relationship so the two of us should decide when we're ready…"

"But I know we're not!" I say, standing from the loveseat, "At least, I'm not." I say, shying away from her.

"I don't feel comfortable having sex ok? I've been putting up a cover because I'm afraid."

"Why?"

"I was an experiment Ruby, you really think they didn't try anything like that?"

"They…"

"One researcher tried, I could feel him about to…" I start before my breathing picks up and my heart starts pounding.

Ruby pulls me back onto the couch and starts running her hands through my hair, "You're okay, it's just a memory…"

I just sit there, shivering in her arms for a while, "You want to keep going?" She asks.

"After the one researcher tried with me, I made all the researchers the promise I would kill every single one of them if any of them even went near any of the other kids in that way, and after what I did to Greer, they weren't going to take any chances. It's the actual reason I didn't want to get in the bath with you, I was worried about what would happen if you tried to start something."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because… I was afraid you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone who wasn't going to do that."

"What about when you told me you wanted to?"

"I still want to, but I'm scared I'll have some sort of panic attack, especially after what happened when I just thought about… him. I don't want to lose control and hurt you, especially when we're doing something that… intimate."

"You know, if you had said something, I never would have even suggested it. It honestly makes me mad you didn't stop me before now. You let me feel you up to make me feel better, were you comfortable with that?"

"It was to make you happy, which made up for any discomfort I had…"

"Ok, can we work from there then? I think we just need to figure out exactly what you're comfortable with, so I know when I need to stop."

"Yang would not believe that you're the one pushing this…"

"She wants to think I'm still a naive little girl, and I thought me getting accepted to Beacon would change that."

"Then what was that with you seeing Weiss the other day?"

"Just because I get embarrassed at seeing my partner naked doesn't mean it would be the same with you."

"I'm pretty sure you said the exact same thing when we talked, and I convinced you otherwise…"

"Yeah, because I was totally going to say I wanted to tear your clothes off in front of my very overprotective older sister."

"You lied to Yang, wow, now that I think about it, I don't think I've heard you tell a lie."

"I have to keep up appearances don't I?"

"So which is the real Ruby? The devious, scheming one I just met or the soft, sweet girl I fell in love with?"

"I'm about 97 percent soft and sweet with some deviousness thrown in that last three percent."

"I think I can live with that…"

"Considering I live with you having multiple people in your head at any given point, you can deal with me not telling my sister everything about my love life."

"Now that I think about it, you're not really devious for avoiding telling your sister that. You're actually quite nice because she would have blamed me for corrupting you."

"So do you want to pick up where we left off or do you want to drink some reheated hot chocolate?"

"Is both an option?"

"Well, it is if you can kiss me with hot chocolate in your mouth."

"Is that a challenge?"

"If you want it to be…"

I run over, heat up my hot chocolate, and run back to kiss Ruby, letting it pass between the two of us.

"I win."

"I honestly prefer the normal taste of your mouth…" She says, grabbing the back of my head to force me into another kiss.

"Trying the dominate side of things this time around?"

"I'm pushing my boundaries to see how far they can go before you shut me out."

I frown, "I don't mean to shut you out…"

"I never said you meant to, but I have to know where I have to stop, so I don't hurt you."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and if you still want to try something on your birthday, I'm willing to try and get through it with you."

"I would like to try, but I want you to tell me the second you feel uncomfortable and we'll stop. Though, I think that's enough boundary pushing for one day, so do you think you can handle helping me with that mattress?"

"I should be able to, but I want to know if you would help me tomorrow with Shade's aura problem."

"I'm more than willing to help you, but you're going to have to show me how."

"It isn't as difficult as you might think, but we'll handle that after a good night sleep. Ruby…"

She turns back to me, "Can you hold my hand when we go down? I don't want to zone out again."

"Sure."

I walk down the basement stairs, and I stop at the bottom once more.

My breathing speeds up and my heart starts racing again, but then Ruby starts talking to me, "You're okay, you're not there anymore, you can feel my hand right?"

"Yeah, that's in the past, it's just a memory, I have you now."

She squeezes my hand, and we keep walking past several rows of boxes.

After that, it was smooth sailing getting the mattress up the stairs, and with only one hand too!

We lay it out in the floor of the living room, and I grab some sheets from my parent's old linen closet.

I lay them out over the mattress, and fall face first into the cold sheets.

I feel a pillow hit me in the back of the head, "Thank you." I tell her into the mattress.

"You better not hog the blanket; otherwise, you can sleep on the couch."

"It's my house!"

"So? I want a blanket so I don't freeze to death."

"It's not that cold, and I can use your sister's semblance if you want."

She pulls the covers up to her neck, "Do it."

I flip on Yang's semblance, and instantly I understand why Blake uses Yang as her own personal heater whenever she can.

"See, you warm up to people eventually."

"You and your sister with the puns…"

After a minute of the two of us lying together she frowns, "I'm sorry I was pushing us in that direction so much…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I should have told you much sooner if I wanted you to stop."

"I should've known something was up, but I was too busy worrying about what I wanted…"

I put my hand on her face and looked her in the eyes, "Stop trying to make this your fault, you couldn't have known not to because I didn't tell you, even told you the opposite. It's okay for no one to take the blame here."

"You always know what to say, and I love you for that." She says, pressing herself up against me.

"I love you just for being you." I say, putting my head next to hers and falling asleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night to find Ruby tossing and turning, "No, don't go Mom, you won't come back."

She latches onto my torso, "I'm not going to let you go."

"Ruby…" I say quietly, rubbing her back to soothe her.

She gasps as she wakes up, tears start pouring down her face, "Come here." I say, letting her press her face into my neck, "A nightmare?"

She nods into my neck, "Why do I have these nightmares? Why do they taunt me?"

"I don't know, but if you ever have one, wake me up and I'll stay up with you."

"I couldn't do that to you…"

"If you can help me deal with my scars, I can stay up with you for a couple nights when you have nightmares."

"Are you any closer to getting her back?"

"I reached a conclusion… The only way to get her back would be with a philosopher's stone."

"What's the chance we find one?"

"Insanely low, but I'm not going to stop looking until she's back with you." I lie to her, knowing that I was on a five year clock, and that it was counting down.

"What happens if we can't find one? Will my mom eventually die there?"

"I can tell you there is no way she should be able to get food and water, so as long as whatever method is providing them to her doesn't give out, then she'll be fine."

"What could she be using?"

"There is an advanced transmutation that binds organisms together, each would have a blood seal that binds an organism to the host with the same seal. So if your mom had one, as long as the seal wasn't broken when she crossed over, she would still be able to receive water and nourishment from the host. Though depending on the strength of the transmutation, the seal has to be refreshed with the host's blood after a certain amount of time."

"If that's true, then every seal would give out at some point, but more importantly, who's the host?"

"I think that was the circle Raymond was hiding on his arm when I caught a glimpse the other day, and it would make a lot of sense that you put the host circle on someone who couldn't die. And if we're correct, either Raymond did it himself or my father did it."

"Your dad knew my mom?"

"They would have met at Beacon at some point and this would prove they kept up for some time after."

"I wonder if your dad could have told us what happened to her."

"Ruby, the only way she could have ended up in the portal is if a transmutation was performed, which means Raymond or my father was involved in some way or another. From the journals I've seen, I can only assume my father divided his research between several more journals, some of which have been found and used in ways my father could never have intended, finding one may have been what your mother's mission actually was."

"Then we need to track the journals down before more people get hurt…"

"With the amount of alchemy going on with the journals, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume we'd have a better chance of finding a philosopher's stone if we went after the journals. Going after them will be dangerous, we know the people using the journals are willing to go to any lengths to get what they want, so if you want to stay out, I would understand."

"This could get my mom back, like hell I'm sitting this out."

"We start after the tournament unless I get a lead before then, but I want you to promise to tell no one outside of the team about this, we're going into this basically blind and I have no idea what to expect."

"I wouldn't tell anyone that could endanger the mission, and I've been waiting to avenge my mom since she died, this is basically the same thing."

"It's also painfully clear that the AHH is up to something, given they cleared Yang's mom's record and lied about how your mom died. You were always told it was a Grimm nest right?"

"That's what they told my dad… I don't even know what to believe in anymore."

"In my experience, there's only one thing good to believe in… yourself, everything else is variables that can change so fast you could never see it coming."

"You're getting way too philosophical for one o'clock in the morning."

"Then let's get some sleep, we've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"Mind filling me in on what the plan is exactly?" She says, sitting up her side to look at me.

"We're helping Shade then we're heading to see Weiss' mom in the hospital."

"Since when was that on the schedule?"

"Since I would like to assess her condition in person, which can give me some valuable data that could finally let me crack the counter dust formula."

"What makes you think the people at the hospital are just going to let us in?"

"Who said I was going to ask? I can blink short distances without knowing the exact location, so that should be a piece of cake."

"You really shouldn't do that, it's bad." She says in a high pitched, sarcastic voice.

"Well so is Weiss' father cheating on his wife while she's in a coma that he isn't even attempting to fix."

She sighs, "How could someone be that...evil?"

"He's not evil, he's human. A very selfish, greedy human being. Regardless, we both need some peaceful sleep to be ready for tomorrow."

"I can agree with you there, good night."

I rub her back until I feel her breathing slow and then I kiss her forehead, "Sweet dreams little rose."


	15. Atlas Adventures

"Ow!" was all I could say when I woke up the following morning.

Ruby had gotten her hands tangled in my hair while we were sleeping, let's just say that me trying to get up and make her breakfast in bed didn't go so well when I was jerked back by my own hair.

"I'm so sorry!" She says, trying to brush out some of the knots she'd made.

"Don't worry about it, I guess it's about time for me to get a haircut." I say, noting how far my hair was down past my shoulders.

"Can you let me do it?" She says, sarcastically.

"There's no way you've cut hair that often with Yang as your sister."

She giggles, "That's true, but are you going to get it cut short?"

"Do you want me to get it cut short?"

"I think it would be cool for us to match at the dance..."

"I would love to, I'll get it done over the weekend." I say, wincing slightly as she pulled through another knot.

"Well, we've got a lot to do today, so let's get started."

"First on the list is Shade…"

"About fucking time!" Shade shouts in my head.

I freeze while I respond, " _Watch your language! I said sorry like four times already._ "

"Shade, stop interrupting my conversation with my girlfriend." Ruby says, guessing the origin of my sudden silence.

"Tell her that it wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't forgotten."

"He says it wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't forgotten, and I have to agree with his logic here."

"No, it's his fault for not reminding you, so Shade, stop blaming my girlfriend for forgetting something with how much she has on her plate."

"I don't care, I'm just ready to get this done." He says, clearly beyond his limit of patience.

"He says he doesn't care, he's just ready to be done with this."

"Ok, so how do I help you?"

"Shade is going to generate a shadow clone, the three of us are going to hold hands, and then I'll trigger the semblance."

"I'm ready if you two are." Shade comments.

"You ready for this Rubes?"

"Yeah, let's do this."

I grab Ruby's hand and let Shade use Blake's semblance to form a clone for him to use.

His clone wasn't as tall as James by a fair margin, and I couldn't really make out any facial features with how the shadow clone formed.

"Three...two...one…"

The three of us appear in my portal, "How you been Sierra?" James says appearing from wherever he goes when he isn't interacting with me or Shade.

"Been good, but I want to introduce you to someone properly. James, this is my girlfriend Ruby Rose, Ruby, this is James Taurus.

"It is nice to finally meet you in person Ruby, Sierra has only had good things to say."

"It's good to finally meet you too, and while I'm here, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

She leans over and whispers something to him, "I'm not going to answer that, though I can say her thoughts on the matter are positive."

"Ruby, what did you just ask him?"

"What you thought about something, nothing important really."

"Why couldn't you just ask me?"

She stays silent, "You know what? It doesn't matter, we're here for Shade."

"You really took your time on that one Sierra." James points out.

"Not you too! I forgot! Sorry, I'm only human."

"I'll let you three have your fun, I've had enough memory diving for a while." James says, walking off.

"There is no way you have something better to do." I yell after him.

He stops and rushes back over, "You're right, let's go."

I trigger the semblance, readying myself for what lay ahead, but nothing happened.

"You really thought it would be that simple for the second time young alchemist?" An all too familiar voice speaks right into my ear.

I spin and find myself face to face with the Truth, "It's always a pleasure Truth."

"Yes it is, and who is this you brought with you?"

"You're the Truth, so you tell me."

"A Miss Ruby Rose, novice alchemist, huntress-in-training."

"Sierra…"

"Ruby, stay behind me. So what do I need to do Truth?"

"Well the first taste is always free, but after that…"

"I need payment for them."

"I control equivalent exchange and you thought I can just hand over souls?"

"No, but as you've said, they haven't died so you don't technically have dominion over their souls."

"That is true, but I do have control over the portal they currently reside in."

"You want payment for opening their portals when I fix their aura?"

"Good, speaking of which, have you figured out what I told you last time?"

"No, but don't think I'm not going to figure it out. How much would it take for me to help Shade?"

"Make me an offer you think will be enough and I'll tell you whether I'll accept it."

"One of my father's alchemy journals."

He grins, "That sounds like a pretty good deal; however, I don't need the one on dust, the others have some interesting applications that I would like to see for myself. They won't be easy to come by, which makes them all the more valuable to me."

"I know exactly how hard they will be to get, so we'll be back when we've got one for you."

"I'll be waiting young alchemist." He says, fading to nothing.

"Sierra, what was…"

"That's the Truth Ruby, remember what I told you about all is one, one is all?"

She nods, "He is the definition of that phrase, everything, but nothing at the same time."

"He's the guardian of the portal, the one who punishes anyone who attempts a transmutation that is beyond their ability, and the one who took my arm in exchange for me opening the portal the first time."

"He is really creepy."

"Yeah, can't disagree with you there."

I turn to Shade, "Looks like you're going to have to wait a little longer."

He sighs, "It can never be straight forward, can it?"

"Not with a situation like this, so I guess this is goodbye for now, Ruby and I will be back as soon as we can."

"You better be ready the second you get one of those journals."

"Depending on circumstances, I'll try to be, but no promises."

"Keep the two of us up to date on your findings, I know I want to be here to help Shade out." James comments.

"I'll be sure to do so, see you two."

I pull me and Ruby out of the portal, "How was your first portal of truth experience?"

"Really creepy, that Truth thing is…"

"Yeah, I can't really argue with you there. We need to get dressed and head out for Schnee General Hospital to check on Weiss' mom."

"The Schnee's own a hospital?"

"Charity gifts really cover up faunus rights violations."

She looks off out the window, "Ruby, I know that look, what's on your mind?"

"Do you think Weiss is going to take over Schnee Dust?"

I sigh, "I would say no, she's putting her all into becoming a huntress, Weiss wouldn't be wasting her time at Beacon if all she planned to do was take over Schnee Dust."

"I just want her to fix things for the fauna, it's unfair how they're being treated."

"I have no doubt she would pick the next CEO if she didn't accept the title herself, so I can see change coming once her father steps down."

"What about her sister?"

"Winter is ineligible to become heiress, her father did everything short of disowning her after she expressed her distaste for some of his business practices. She also supports same-sex relationships, something her father finds "distasteful"."

"So we could never be open about our relationship if we were around him?"

"I don't care, he isn't my father, but he would probably kick us out of his manor if we were honest. Why do you ask?"

"Weiss said something about her father wanting to meet his daughter's team, she wanted to find a good time to take us."

"She would have told you if I didn't, but it would only be for a little while if we went."

"I know, but it's another one of things I just don't understand, why should you and I be judged for loving each other?"

"Some say tradition, some say it was some person starting the rumor we're evil, but none of them are actually valid. It doesn't matter to me, I love you and no person on this planet can change that. Though I don't know how… affectionate we can be in public here in Atlas."

"Let's get ready to go." She says, sounding unsatisfied.

But I know that look in her eye, "Ruby, I know you're not done talking about this."

She sighs, "I don't want to have to hide who I am just so get the same treatment as someone who isn't in a same-sex relationship."

"Most places won't be that bad, though Schnee General probably isn't one of those places."

"Then we're going really quickly and leaving."

"No disagreement there, I don't exactly have a good record with people in white coats anyway, so hospitals aren't somewhere I enjoy being."

She pulls on her jacket before turning back to me, "Do you want to go through one of your scars since we didn't take up as much time helping Shade?"

"I guess we could…"

"Remember your reward…"

"I know, but…"

"No buts, so do you choose this time or should I?"

"I think I can handle it this time. I guess I should explain the rape attempt…"

She looks like she's about to interrupt, but I start before she can.

***Flashback start***

"Who would like to volunteer for some tests?" The researcher asked in an overly cheery tone.

The kids stayed silent, knowing tests meant severe pain, most likely followed by a "mission" to test the results.

"No takers? I guess I'll take this one…" He says, grabbing my sister by the arm.

"Don't you touch her!" I say, throwing myself into his stomach.

He smacks me after pulling away, "Ok, I think a feisty one will be better for this test anyway…"

He grabs me by the chain connecting my two handcuffs, pulling me out of the room as I gave my sister a reassuring glance.

We walked for a minute before he spoke again, "You're the one who beat up Greer a while back right?"

I don't answer, "You're also the one that cut down three innocent people to make sure Sarah didn't receive punishment?"

"Willingly is a bit of a stretch considering the context."

"This test should be great for you then, I want to see if I can get that insane killer side out of you for good."

My face shows no reaction, but I was internally screaming, hoping that this guy couldn't back up his ideas.

He leads me into a small lab, a metal trolley sits at its center.

He pushes me towards the table, "I would encourage you stay still; otherwise, I could paralysis you from the neck down."

"You mind explaining what could cause side effects like that?"

"I'm cutting open your spinal column, and seeing what happens when I move around a couple strings."

"No anesthesia I assume?"

"Nope, you'll feel everything."

" _Here we go then…_ "

The next half an hour was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I could feel every cut, every prod, every stab.

"Damn it!" The man yelled as he threw his tools against the wall.

"Your aura is still manifesting through the cuff!" He says, slamming his fist into my side.

I wince after taking the impact and falling off the table, my aura nearly gone after healing most of the incisions near my spinal cord.

"Now, let's just beat you up until your aura drops." He says, slamming my head into the corner of the table.

I feel a warm liquid start running down the back of my head as I try to crawl away.

"That's sad, you're not as tough as I thought." He says, pulling me up by my hair.

"You're quite pretty for your age…" He says, looking my body over.

My eyes widen and I try to struggle away from him.

"You're out of energy, so I can take my sweet time…" He says, pulling down the edge of my top.

I kick and scream as much as I can, but I was too tired to put up any real fight.

I hear his pants slide down and I put renewed effort into my struggle until he breathes into my ear, "You stop struggling and I'll make sure your brother and sister never have to go on a mission ever again."

I stop struggling and brace myself, ready to do what I had to for my siblings' guaranteed safety.

"I'm going to get something out of the way first." He says, dropping me as he walks away.

He grabs one of his sharper scalpels, and throws me back on the table, "You'll definitely feel this."

He slips the tool down below the waistband of my jumpsuit, I close my eyes as I feel it pierce something I could never get back.

"Now I'm going to enjoy this, but I'll only protect your siblings if you play along."

" _This is too much…"_

Knock...Knock

Metallic clangs come from the door, "Who is it?" The researcher calls out.

"Boss needs to see you." A familiar sounding guard calls out.

"Damn it to hell." He mutters, sliding his pants up, pulling me off the table to throw me against the wall as he angrily strides out of the room.

I let my head fall and watch as small amount of blood trickles down from my head wound onto my displaced clothes.

The lower piece was beginning to soak through with blood, I was sad that he had managed to get that far, but relieved he didn't manage to get any farther.

"Are you ok?" The man asks as he gets down to my eye level.

"Never...better…and...it's...nice...to...see...you...again."

He interrupts me, "Can you gather enough aura to heal those wounds or do you need some medication? Here let me take the cuff off so you can recover faster." He says, pulling the key out from his belt.

"Why...do...you…" I start before he interrupts again.

"Catch your breath, then you can ask me whatever you want, there aren't any cameras in this lab."

I lay against the wall and he patiently waits for me to catch my breath and recover a bit of aura without the cuff.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because that man was going to rape an eleven year old girl, a girl already going through hell and back daily."

"He managed to cut it out…" I say, motioning to the rosette of blood forming on the legs of my jumpsuit.

"I'm sorry I didn't interrupt sooner."

"It's the least painful thing that has happened to me today, so did the boss actually call him?"

"I looked in after I heard you screaming, even though you hadn't screamed during the entirety of the procedure, I called the boss to tell him what was going on. Boss wasn't too pleased with the thought…"

"After a year he decides to care…"

"Nah, he just didn't like the idea of having a pregnant assassin, because I would bet money on Peterson not using protection."

I shiver, and he holds out his hand to show some pills, "Just a bit of acetaminophen, painkiller if you didn't know."

"I didn't catch your name when you took me to the boss all those months ago." I said, taking the pills from his hand.

"Name's Cliff Hanley, and you are?"

"Sierra Grey…"

His face lightens, "You don't happened to be related to a Jonathan Grey do you?"

"He was my father."

"He isn't with us anymore then?"

I nod, "I remember him from his visits when I was in the military, never met a better leader in my life."

"You were military?"

"Up until I was court martialed for that robbery I told you about."

"You still don't seem like the type of person to be a criminal…"

"Neither do you, in all fairness."

"It's not like I wanted to be…" I say, my voice expressing the hopelessness of my current situation.

"I can take you and run if that's what you really want," He says, "but I know that isn't the case, you want every kid out of this alive correct?"

I nod, "Then there's not much you can do except keep going, now is there?"

"I want to get all the innocent people out, people like you, who didn't want this."

"A wise man once something like this "Get up, get going, I'll meet you there." You need to get those kids out first, and the few of us that are innocent will be right behind you."

"At your request…" I say, downing the pills he had given me earlier.

"You going to be okay?"

"I'll have some scars, mental and physical, but I'll be alright."

"You seem very grown up for an eleven year old."

"Being an assassin will do that to you, losing my mother at six and my father a year ago certainly didn't help."

"So you're like that too huh?" He says, "Growing up isn't fun, especially when it's faster than it needs to be."

"You have experience then?"

"I didn't come from the most well off family, as soon as I could, I was working nearly 10 hours a day just to help get food on the table. Then my dad died, and me going into the military was a must to keep my family fed."

"I'm not going to say this isn't quite the same…"

"You'd be surprised at the similarities, but you're not wrong."

He looks at his watch, "I have to go now, don't I?" I ask

"Yes, but I can see about convincing the boss to let you have proper resting quarters, maybe a couple hours a day without the cuff."

"Thank you, but do you mind carrying me? I'm definitely not feeling up to it."

"No problem." He says, putting me on his shoulder.

"I'm not going to lie, I considered your offer to run…" I tell him as I see the spotlights of the training room come into view.

"You're too strong for that, you can survive this, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?"

"That's if it doesn't kill me…"

"You're just full of good points today."

"Stick around, you'll find I'm full of good ideas."

"It's not like I can go any further than you can." He replies with a slight chuckle.

***Flashback End***

"You didn't have to…"

"I did, you would have found out at some point."

"I'm sorry that…"

"Don't say you're sorry!" I yell at her, "I don't want anymore pity from people!"

I see the tears well up in her eyes, "No, Ruby I didn't…"

"No, you have a point, I understand, I'm the same way. After my mom died, everyone wanted to say how sorry they are, but all I wanted to know was why my mom had to be the one to go that mission. I wanted answers, not pity. I assume you want to know why you were kidnapped?"

"No, there's more to the story, but I'm not ready to tell you the rest."

"It gets worse?"

"Much, much worse."

"How?"

"Not right now, we've got a hospital to get to." I say, pulling on my jacket.

"No, you're not going to dodge this, if we're talking about it, we're doing it now."

"Then we aren't going to talk about it because we can't waste time here for me, not if I can get this counter dust made and get Weiss her mom back. I'm not letting Weiss' father get away with this any longer."

"So this isn't to help Weiss is it?" She says, "This is so you can step it to her father."

"No, this is for Weiss, but if I can get a shot at her old man in the process, then it's too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"What do you have against her father?"

"You heard what I said earlier right? Not to mention the hell he's put Weiss and Winter through. Those two were like the older sisters I never had, knowing he's forced them into so much, I will never forgive him."

"You thought about dating your older sister?" She asked with a raised brow.

"That came much later, so don't get any ideas."

"You're right though, your past can wait, this can't, so let's get going. We going to blink or…"

"Blinking, since I'm not driving anything down the path if it hasn't been cleared for years."

I let her run to the other room and grab Crescent Rose.

" _Ok, I know a rough location, but I'm not sure of the details…"_

"We might have to walk a little, k?"

"We could both just run it."

"You want to see how good I am with your semblance right?"

"Hey, wasn't it you that taught us to always study your opponent?"

I sigh, "I did say that, so I'm guessing you're taking the tournament seriously?"

"I want to see some dolphins…" She says in an overly serious tone

"Ah, so what do I win if I get to finals?"

"You win a trip to Patch, with me and Yang for Christmas next year."

"Why not this year?"

"Because we're staying at Beacon as a team this year."

"How am I going to manage a gift for Weiss?" I think outloud.

"I'm her partner and I don't really know something I could afford to get her."

"Not expense wise, she actually doesn't like expensive things, but more of when am I going to get time to do it."

"What?"

"She likes homemade gifts, it shows you care more than some expensive gift."

"I think I can handle something homemade."

"Make sure to tell Blake and Yang, but that's after we get done today."

I grab her hand, "3..2..1"

I could never express how good blinking feels. I would have to compare it to a free fall without a parachute that you're guaranteed to live through.

We drop out near the Atlas financial district, skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, people lined up shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalks. Street vendors lined the curbs, the smell of hot dogs and coffee coating the street.

"Ok, I'm definitely getting better with rough calculations, were only about four blocks from Schnee General."

"Can we get something to eat?" Ruby says, her stomach growling in agreement, "We sorta skipped breakfast."

"After we get done at the hospital, I want to get in and out before midday."

"It's early, can we at least get a snack?"

"Fine, there are some street vendors around we could grab something from."

I pull her out onto the sidewalk from the alley we had landed in, "You better be quick, because you're in Inner Atlas now."

"My semblance is speed and you think I'm going to be the slow one?"

I walk us around, up to a street vendor, "Two hotdogs please."

( **A/N: Forgive me, my "Atlesian" is rusty.** ) The man gives me a strange look and replies, "Vous ne parlez pas Atlesian?" (You don't speak Atlesian?)

I facepalm slightly, "Deux." (Two)

He hands me the hotdogs and I turn back to see Ruby giving me a weird look, "What was that?" She asks as we walk along, eating.

"Atlesian, and don't worry, most people don't use it so you'll be fine."

"I just don't think I've ever heard you use it before now."

"It makes me homesick when I use it, my mother was the one who taught me."

"I shouldn't have…"

I stop her, "Ruby, if I'm uncomfortable about you saying something, I'll stop you. There are a lot of bad topics in my life, trying to avoid one is just going to find another. Bring up whatever you want, I have to get over it sooner or later."

"But…"

"No buts, I'm tired of you having to apologize every time we're in a conversation for over a minute, so I'm giving you permission instead of you having to apologize. Schnee General is just up here." I say as we round a corner.

Schnee General Hospital wasn't the smallest of buildings to say the least. It was at least even height-wise with some of the major corporate headquarters dotted around the city.

" _And this isn't even a fraction of the Schnee's wealth, Weiss won't work a day in her life if she doesn't want to._ "

And then it occurred to me, she wants to work and help people. I never thought about the fact Weiss really doesn't need to become a huntress that it's her choice to put her life on the line against the Grimm.

"We going to try to get in the normal way, or are we going covert?"

"I've got an idea…"

We both approach the front desk, "Do you have…" The secretary starts before freezing.

"I'm just doing an inspection for my father," I say, "He wants to be sure his investment is being used properly."

"Of course Miss Schnee, and who is this you've brought with you?"

"She is my partner from Beacon Academy, my father asked me to stop by before I took her shopping."

"Here you both go, anyone stops you, show them these passes." She says, practically pushing us away from her station.

We both walk around the corner and I drop my aura camo, "I need to use that more."

"You play the spoiled rich girl pretty well."

"I'm totally telling Weiss you said that."

"It's true and you know it. Now that we're in, how are we going to find Weiss' mom in this gigantic hospital?"

"Take a guess."

I see her start to concentrate, "There's an aura that seems similar to Weiss' on the fifteenth floor."

"Yep, given that Weiss' aura is a mix between that one and her father's, I'd say that's who we're looking for."

"Let's go." She says, quickly moving to the elevator.

I peek my head out of the doors looking for surveillance cameras. Seeing none, the two of us step out onto the fifteenth floor, and find a deserted hallway.

"This is straight out of a horror movie." She says, motioning towards the interior of the closest room, which contained a single chair with straps to keep the patient tied down.

"Seems like this floor is for the more "experimental" procedures."

"He lets them experiment on his wife?"

"No, but no one would think to look for a long term patient in the experimental wing would they?"

We creep along the hall before coming across two rooms that looked significantly better kept than the others.

One was marked with the Schnee logo, the other with the AHH insignia.

" _So this is what Summer wanted me to see…_ "

"Who is…"

"We'll see after we check on Weiss' mom."

I almost instantly regretted eating that hot dog when I saw Weiss' mom. She looked almost mummified, her skin pulled back all over her face, and chest barely moving with breath.

"They didn't even try to remove the dust, so it's been slowly killing her."

"How long does she have?"

I pick up her chart, "If her condition doesn't accelerate then she might have a year, but from these tests, she probably has about six months before critical organ failure."

"Can you…"

I clap and place my hands on her forehead, " _Let's see what type of dust that bullet was made out of…_ "

I manage to get a miniscule fragment in my hand, "This should be enough for me or Weiss to run some tests on it. With luck, I could have the counter made within a month of results."

"It's that simple?"

"Pretty much, but it's only easy because I can use alchemy to pull out the dust. Without it, you would have to perform brain surgery without disturbing the dust;otherwise, she'd die if the dust happened to shift."

"But you're moving the dust with alchemy aren't you?"

"Nope," I pull a empty vial out of my back pocket, "There was a piece of electric dust in here, I exchanged it for dust of equal mass and density to the dust causing the coma. The piece in my hand matches the dust in her head exactly, so all that's left is to produce the counter."

"Ok, let's see who's in the room next door if we're done here." Ruby says.

I peak out, checking to make sure no one had come up behind us, "Clear." I say quickly striding next door and closing it after Ruby followed suit.

The room's far wall was a full window letting in plenty of light, which illuminated the bed.

There was a man peacefully sleeping there, an IV attached to his arm. I grabbed his chart, the name read Jamie Oran.

"You heard of this guy?" I say, handing Ruby the charts.

"I'm sure I've heard the name before, but I couldn't tell you where."

I looked him over, Jamie was clearly a huntsman, from the scars to his physique.

" _Why would Summer ask me to…_ " I think before realizing exactly who this was.

"Leader of Team JINX…"

"Wait, this guy is the team leader of the team that my mom saved?"

"Looks like it, but the question is, what is he in this section of the hospital for? Hand me his charts."

I look and my jaw drops at the date of arrival, it was over 14 years ago!

"Ruby, he's been here since that mission…"

"What are his injuries?"

I scan through the pages again only to find no injuries listed, "There aren't any listed…"

"Then why…" She starts before I walk over and look at the IV fluid.

"Ruby, he's being administered morphine through his IV, I doubt he's been fully awake since that mission."

"How would his team not notice him being gone?"

"I remember looking over the file, their entire team was still listed under active duty, which means that the other members are in states like this or…"

"Or they're silenced, maybe worse, dead." She finishes my thought.

We both stop, the two of us trying to process what exactly this meant.

"Then was my mom…"

"I doubt it, more than likely they did this as a cover up for your mother's death."

"Then, we have to be right about them lying about how my mom died, why else would they bother trying to hide my mom dying in a Grimm nest?"

I'm so deep in thought I don't answer her question, I go to say something before seeing a blinking red dot in the corner of the room.

"Ruby, pull out Crescent Rose and stab that corner with the tip of the blade."

She immediately complies, her stab is followed by an electrical crackle and a tiny puff of smoke.

The pieces of the hidden camera fall out of the crack, I search through the parts, trying to be sure there was no transmitter.

"Good news, it was closed circuit," I say holding up a small memory card, "If we get out now, they won't know we were here."

"What about him?" She says, motioning towards Jamie.

"We free him now, the AHH is sure to track him down and kill him, so his best chance for survival is here in a coma. We can come back and help him after the dust has settled."

"Fine, I'm not happy about it, but I know you're right."

She goes to continue, but I put my hand over her mouth when I hear footsteps.

The footsteps are coming directly towards the room, " _Someone knows we're here…_ "

The door is slammed open, a masked man is standing there with a machine gun.

" _This is going to be fun…_ " I think as I put my arms around Ruby and smash through the window.

"Walk the wall Ruby!" I yell while we're in freefall, throwing my aura onto the building.

I stick to my aura and start to run down the side, Ruby next to me.

I look back to see the man starting to aim down at us, "Ruby! I need a boost!"

She slows down, just enough to throw down a spring made from her aura, "You're not going to use your arm with Jamie in there, right?" She asks

I curse under my breath as I jump on her spring, and shoot myself away from the building.

" _Jamie being there makes this difficult, but I need to make sure this guy doesn't open fire on civilians._ "

Popping the clasps on my bandages, I whip out my wings, hoping the gunman would take the bait.

Fortunately, he does, aiming at me instead of Ruby and the people below.

" _Now we see how good I am at holding my aura on my wings._ "

Several rounds bounce off of my wings as I try and deflect as many as possible away from the surrounding office buildings.

The rounds stop coming, I whip around to see the man hobble out of Jamie's room with his machine gun in tow.

" _Looks like Weiss was right about us making a commotion._ " I think, as I gain altitude.

I spot Ruby just outside of the crowd that had gathered after the firefight broke out, I motioned for her to get around the corner into an alley on her left.

Putting up camo, I watch as people start to look around for whatever was flying above them.

I do circles over the crowd and land behind the brunt of the group.

"Over here!" Ruby gets out over the mass of people reporting the occurrence.

I fold up my wings, re-clasp my bandages, "That was exciting!" I tell her.

"You're so reckless, but I don't know who you'd be if you weren't. Weiss is going to yell at us when we get back."

"We defended civilians and got a dust sample that could help her mom…"

Ruby gasps, "How do we know they are both okay after that? Who says they aren't hauling them out right now?"

"Logic, neither of them were on record staying in those rooms, as both should have been in the long term care unit. So, it will come out that some insane gunman just opened fire on the street from an empty room at the hospital."

"And no witness is going to say anything about us?"

"Not when they're paid not to. Money equals power, power corrupts, corruption leads to destruction."

"Who said that?"

"My dad after he did an investigation into Schnee Dust."

"Then why…"

"Didn't he do anything? He was retired, and anyone that could force change were already paid off just to be safe."

Ruby drops to her knees, "Ruby what's…"

"Why is this so broken?"

I go to speak, but she continues before I get a word in, "Schnee Dust, The AHH. I wanted to become a huntress to help people, now following orders could easily get someone hurt, and disobedience could get someone killed. At the same time, I could be silenced every time I went against someone who has money."

"Stop right there," I tell her, "there is always going to a be a dark side to the world, you and I both can atest to that. Everyone, everything, every organization, has a good and a bad side. People like us are the ones who have to determine whether the dark is getting to big, and if so, cut it down to size. If the AHH is as corrupt as they look right now, it's about time they get cut down."

"You are going to try and take down the entire AHH? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I'll win, but I'm not going in until I have proof this isn't just one person putting this in place."

"You're not going to do this alone, I'm going to help you."

"The second I say to get out, will you do it?"

"Yes, but only if you're coming with me. I'm not going to leave you not matter the cost."

I turn from her, "You're not helping unless you agree to leave me if it comes to that."

"Then I won't let it get that far. You know you need help in order to beat whoever is doing this, AHH or not."

I sigh, "I'm not going to win this fight am I?"

"Nope, now let's go get some proper food for lunch."

"We're not done talking about this, but I can agree to some lunch. Whatcha in the mood for?"

"All I really want is a good sandwich."

"You've come to the right place," I say as I start to pull her along, "Inner Atlas is the deli capital of Remnant. There's a place we can go off of 12th street, it's just a couple blocks."

Walking along with Ruby reminded me of all the times my dad had taken me to the city, somehow the city had gotten even busier since then, making it seem like it never stopped moving.

"Here we are." I say, holding the door to Coffee Cafe, Deli, and Bakery open for Ruby.

Walking in that door brought back some amazing memories of the pastries I would get when I came with my mom or dad, those were the good times.

"This place smells amazing…," She stops upon seeing their dessert counter, "Cookies!"

"We're here for lunch, cookies after. They just opened, so we should be able to get something before many people get here."

We walk up to the small cash register, I ring the bell to call for service, "I'm old, but I can still hear." Someone calls out after I ring the bell for the second time.

The kitchen door opens up, a fat old man waddles his way towards us, my eyes widen, "Mr. Walker…"

"My vision's bad, but I know that voice anywhere." He says coming around the counter and holding out his arms for a hug.

"It's good to know you're still around." I said, nearly tearing up in his embrace.

"It's good to see you after this long, I'll be honest, I thought you went the way of your mother."

"I won't lie and say there weren't some close calls."

"You should be going to Signal right now if my memory serves me right."

I chuckle a bit, "I'm actually at Beacon now, early admission."

"Well done, your mother would be proud, but both of us are being rude, who is this you've brought with you?"

" , this is Ruby Rose, Ruby, this is ."

"It's nice to meet you." Ruby says, awkwardly shaking hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well young lady, what brings the two of you by?"

"Lunch, she was in the mood for a sandwich."

"I think I can handle that," He says, handing Ruby the order sheet, "Fill in your ingredients, Angel should be able to help you with bread choice."

"Thank you." She says, taking the sheet from his hands.

She starts looking it over while I lean over to Mr. Walker, "Make me a bigger version of my usual, but I'd also like a few cookies…"

"Say no more, a baker's dozen on the house." He whispers back.

"No, you don't have to…"

"I didn't get to make the cake for your sixteenth, so let me help you out this once."

"If you insist…" I say, shrugging as he walks back to start on the confections.

"Sierra…" Ruby says as she taps me on the shoulder, "what would you recommend?"

"I love his herb bread, but you might like his Atleasian loaf."

"Is it too late to say I'll have what she's having?"

"Yep, he knows what I get, all I asked was it be a bit bigger."

"Here, I don't know what to get, so you can pick for me." She says, handing it over.

"You'll like it…" I say, picking the loaf, as comes back with a large plate.

"Here you go," He says before switching to a whisper, "The cookies will be a couple minutes," He says setting down my plate and grabbing Ruby's ticket, "Excellent choices Miss Rose."

Ruby smiled at him and then turned to look at my plate. Her jaw drops upon seeing the massive sandwich that's on the plate. "That's your usual?!"

"Two slices of everything he's got with all the condiments, and thank goodness, because I'm starving." I say, instantly biting through the fresh bread.

"How do you stay so thin? I have to have at least a two hour training session just to keep up."

"Flying burns me an insane amount of calories, a ten minute flight is probably equal to your two hour session." I get out in between bites of food.

"That's so not fair." Ruby says

"It's a small perk compared to the judgement I get for it." I say, slightly cynical.

"I didn't…"

"I know you didn't, nor do I think you even considered it, so you wanna bite?" I say, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't think she'll want one, she's got her own to eat." says, striding over with another plate in hand.

He sets it down and Ruby looks pleased with my choice for her bread, "Thank you."

"It's not a problem for the girlfriend of one of my longest standing customers."

I blinked a bit, "When did I say she was my girlfriend?"

"Just now." He says, walking away with a hardy chuckle.

Ruby starts giggling at what must have been a look of shock on my face, "It's not funny." I say, pouting.

"The situation isn't, but your face was priceless."

I tapped my feet against hers while she was eating, the smile she had while eating made me glad me had come to Inner Atlas, even with what we discovered.

" _I want her to stay this way, happy, without a care in the world. I won't let anyone take that away from her._ "

"I don't deserve you…" I mumble to myself

"I think you do," Ruby says, overhearing me, "given how much you've been through."

"So you're dating me because you feel bad for me?"

"No, no, no… I just thought you deserved some good luck after everything."

"Thanks, it's good to hear you say that out loud."

Ruby finishes off her sandwich, "You want to head back now?"

"Why rush? I find sitting here with you just as satisfying as going home."

"I'm not going to disagree."

We sit there for who knows how long, just holding hands, going back and forth talking about the most random things. People started to flood into the restaurant, trying to get something for lunch during their breaks.

"Here you go." Mr. Walker says, arriving with the box of cookies.

"You didn't." Ruby says, looking from the box to me, eyes wide with the realization of its contents.

"I did, but you're not getting any until we get home."

"Let's go now, Let's go now…"

"Ok, but I'm saying goodbye first."

"Thank you for everything ."

"No problem…" He says before leaning over to me, "just make sure you let me make the wedding cake."

I instantly blush, "Sure…" I say, giving him a quick hug before turning back to Ruby.

"Let's get back then." I say, grabbing her hand.

We were about to leave before I hear a splash, I turn and see the side of Ruby's corset soaked through with liquid.

I look at the source of the issue. An older, clearly Atleasian, woman had walked over and thrown her drink at my girlfriend.

"Do you mind explaining why you did that?" I say, my voice a mask of calm over my fury.

"People like you two disgust me, it's immoral."

"Then maybe you should change your morals."

"It's fine Sierra, let's just go."  
"Listen to your "girlfriend", run with your tail between your legs like the bitch…"

I used Yang's semblance and let my hair catch fire, flaring my aura around me.

"Finish your sentence, I dare you." I growl.

The woman's eyes are wide, clearly in shock of seeing a girl practically burst into flame.

"Sierra, please stop…" Ruby says, almost begging.

I drop it, turning to her, "Let's go, for real this time."

Mr. Walker came out to see what all the commotion was about, "What's the meaning of this?"

"These two young women were...fraternizing with one another."

"You threw a drink at my daughter's girlfriend, you can leave, now."

The woman looked generally shocked, "I will be telling people you support such… things." She says, clearly choosing her words carefully to avoid my rage.

I watched the woman walk away in a huff, mumbling something about a bad review, "You didn't have to do that ." Ruby says.

"Neither of you deserve that kind of treatment."

"You called me your daughter…" I say, almost shocked

"Yes, it helped to drive her off, and it's not like I wouldn't have adopted you had I been given the chance."

"Thank you for giving it that much thought."

"It was not much thought, your parents were some of my best customers and friends, so I wish the state would have given me the chance."

" _Yeah… The state."_  I think, realizing I had never told him what actually happened, nor did I inform him the state isn't very clean of corruption at the moment.

"Thank you for defending the two of us, and I might just take you up that offer someday." I say, knowing Ruby would have no idea what it meant.

Ruby and I walk out, while the eyes of most other people in the restaurant followed behind.

"Now, let's actually go home." I say, grabbing her hand once again and was successful in pulling her back to my literal house on the hill.

"That was a hectic afternoon…"

"That it was, I need some serious relaxation time after that."

Ruby walks over and gives me a kiss on the cheek, "Well…"

"Kissing, nothing more, I'm too tired for much more than that."

"Who said it would be anything more than that? You clearly have a dirty mind if you thought anything different."

"It's more like I know you and I believe you owe me something." Going in for a quick peck on the lips.

"You're uncomfortable, you mis-clipped your bandages didn't you?"

"I did it quite quickly, so it wasn't the most well done job."

"Here," She says, reaching around and undoing the clasps for my bandages, "that better?"

"Yeah," I say pulling them out from behind me, "but you're too thoughtful."

"No, I just like looking at them."

"Well, what do you like about them?" I say, blushing ever so slightly

"They match your natural hair color, they're almost as soft as your ears, and they're attached to my very beautiful girlfriend."

"You're one of the first people to call me beautiful in my entire life."

"You know what?" She says, "I know something we haven't done yet as a couple."

I raise an eyebrow, "What?"

"Watch a sappy romance movie together."

"Any suggestions?" I say, walking into the kitchen to start on some popcorn.

"Let's just pick something that is hilariously bad."

We settled on a movie called Dusk, the main premise had something to do with vampires and werewolves fighting, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I was watching Ruby's reactions to everything going on, and watching her was certainly more entertaining than the actual movie.

I leaned in close, "I feel like there is something else you would rather be doing right now."

"Two things," she whispers back, "but one of them I have to wait for my birthday to get."

I roll on top of her, "My turn." I say, locking lips with her.

She runs her hands through my hair and over my ears, "Let me pet my kitty cat."

I lower my head and she starts scratching in between them, the feeling of purring while the two of us were kissing was definitely a plus of the cat ears.

We go back and forth, the two of us exploring the others mouth when allowed, and waiting for the others exploration to be complete.

I'm the one to break the cycle, "I'm really tired…"

"So am I, bed?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Can you carry me?" She says with a yawn.

"It's just over there."

"I know." She says, with another yawn.

"I don't know if I'll be able to hold all the cute."

"I think you'll manage." She says, groggily.

I pick her up and carry her the short distance to bed.

"I want cuddles." She says after I don't immediately get under the sheets.

"Give me one sec." I say, running over to the kitchen.

I grab out four of 's cookies, and pour two cups of milk, " _Note to self, get more milk for cookies._ "

I walk back over and her eyes light up when she sees what I have in my hands.

I place her portion into her hand, "Here you go."

"You're the best." She says, as she seemed to gain back some energy by just having the cookies in her hands.

The two of us sit there and enjoy the cookies that had been prepared for us.

"We're going to have to bring some back for the others to have."

"I'll call ahead and get him to make a set that we can pick up before we leave."

"Two days…"

"Yep, it doesn't feel like we've been in Atlas that long, does it?"

"Nope, but it's been wonderful, minus the stuff at the hospital."

"Agreed, but we'll get to the bottom of it, together."

I jump up and grab the wrench I had set on the mantle, my arm comes off with a pop.

I lay back down next to Ruby, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She says, curling into my side.


	16. Let's Go Home

The sun peeked over the the crest of the mountain as I sat on the balcony railing, my head just below the top of the open window I was in, drinking a small cup of tea.

"Can't sleep?" James asks me.

" _Yeah, I'm worried about what this all adds up to. The big picture is starting to look very grim._ "

"You need to tell someone else. As confident as I am in you and Ruby's abilities, you can't take on the world by yourselves."

" _I don't think that is really an option. Getting help is just putting more people in harm's way. I was hesitant to bring Ruby into this, so you think I'm willing to pull more people in?_ "

"At least tell the rest of Team RWBY, they deserve the truth from you."

" _But I don't even know what the truth is at this point! What do I tell them? The organization that defends humanity from the Grimm might actually be corrupt and evil?!"_

"You don't know that. All you need to tell them is what you do know for sure."

" _Then nothing. Because nothing is certain at this point._ "

"I don't win this argument, do I?"

" _No, so leave me to the sunrise. Sorry I'm a bit grouchy, not much sleep."_

"Understood, but you need to get some sleep before Ruby gets up."

I make the executive decision to stay awake, listening to the sounds of animals moving in the forests around the house.

" _I remember the time when I thought of this place as home, I remember the time when I let it go to help me survive, but I also remember the time Ruby became my home."_ I think, smiling to myself.

A yawn comes from the doorway, I turn to see Ruby rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Hey…" she says, sleepily, "What are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep." I reply.

"Bad dream?"

"Waking nightmare."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one." She says, taking a seat on the railing beside me.

"I really don't even know what to think after everything." I say, expressing how confused I was about the whole thing.

"Neither do I, but I'm willing to try and figure it out."

"Are you going to tell the team?" I ask her.

"Should I?"

"I want to say no, at least until we have some more set details."

"I don't know if it's right to keep something this big from everyone. Leader's intuition."

I sigh, "You're right, but it needs to stay within the team."

"Agreed, so what's on the agenda for today?"

"Sightseeing if you want, or we could just relax and eat some cookies."

She smiles, "Cookies honestly sound pretty good because I doubt this is the last time we'll be in Atlas since you live here."

"You would be willing to come back? I feel like it hasn't been a very good experience."

"Minus what we've discovered, I've been having a great time here."

"Even with me passing out for two days?"

"Playing nurse was kind of fun…"

I smile back, "Cookies and chill it is then. Anything you want to do before that?"

"I'll admit, I've been curious about the workshed."

"Ah, makes sense you would be." I say in a slightly depressed tone.

"Something wrong?"

"Each family member has a station out there… I don't want to see my siblings' leftover projects or my father's tinkering."

"Then we don't have…"

"No," I say, changing my mind, "I think it could be another step in my healing at the very least. Let's get dressed because I doubt the heat still works in there." I say, sliding off of the railing.

"Speaking of which, how is this deck so warm when it's this cold out?"

"Heated floor, and the ceiling reflects that heat back throughout the room."

"Not out the open windows?"

"That would take longer to explain, so later, if you're insistent on discovering the secret of the heated balcony."

"Later then, I'll leave you to get dressed."

I decided to rock the skirt and blouse combo even with how cold it was, "Decent!"

She comes back in with a long sleeve shirt and some jeans, "A bit cold for that isn't it?"

"I don't get cold easily, worst comes to worst, I'll just use your sister's semblance."

"Regardless, you look… beautiful." She says, clearly changing a word.

"Say what you were going to say."

"Sexy, very sexy in fact."

I blush, "Thank you."

I open the door for her, and the two of us walk through the thin layer of snow towards the "shed."

"Welcome to the workshed, otherwise known as Grey Labs."

The inside wasn't as decrepit as I thought it would be. Almost everything looked the same as the day I had seen it last. The only exception was the thick coat of dust covering every surface.

"Here, duck out the door…" I tell Ruby as I clap and transmute a gust of wind to clear the soot from all the tables.

We let the cloud float out of the door before I flip on the lights, illuminating the place where I spent the majority of my time when I wasn't training for almost the entirety of my childhood.

I ran my hand over my workstation, the table full of dents and scratches from various projects I had completed(or not completed) over the years.

Then I made the mistake of looking towards the back of my station, my eyes falling on a pure red gauntlet, still hung out to dry.

I turn to leave when Ruby sees the expression on my face, "What…" She says before looking at the guard.

I move to leave before Ruby stops me, "That's the one you made for your sister isn't it?"

Nodding, I half heartedly try to push past her, "You're going to find her and your brother, the team has your back, so we'll give it our all when you're ready."

I stop pushing and fall against her shoulder, "I miss them, but I know I can't shut down without them here. I need to keep going, find out why we were put through the hell we were." The tears flowing, somewhat slower this time, down my face.

"You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, you're with me." I say, kissing her cheek

"Well, you were in the middle of a tour…"

"Yeah, I can handle this." I say with renewed determination.

I walk around my station and approach my father's. His tools were still scattered around, wires and cables everywhere, almost anything you could ever need was probably around his station somewhere. I grab some parts from the tabletop after I realize I could really use some maintenance done on my automail. I notice a case, one about the size of my automail, sitting off to the side of my father's station. Curious of its contents, I pull it onto the table, while Ruby watches with the same curiosity. I open up the case to find a note in my father's handwriting, " _This is for your future Sierra. One day, I hope the fighting will cease and you will no longer need the weaponry I had installed in your original automail or there might be a day when you simply walk away from the fight as it may no longer be your own. In either case, this is a gift from me."_

I look under the paper to find a more human looking version of the arm I currently wore. The surface was much smoother, and it was much thinner without the grenade launcher in the center.

"Is it finished?" Ruby asks.

"Only one way to find out…"

I grab a wrench off of a shelf above the workstation, I remove my arm and replace it with the "new" version, "Here we go." I say, fitting the wrench over the nerve connector.

I push it down, and start moving the fingers, "That answers that question."

"It looks like a regular arm, just coated in metal." She says, running her hands over the surface of the material.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be much good in a fight though. It doesn't have as much power behind the mechanicals, and it not like a normal arm that I could get training to fix."

"I've been meaning to ask, does your aura surround your automail?"

"When I want it to, but normally, no."

"Don't you worry about it breaking?"

"I've fixed this thing for years, and even if I hadn't, anyone with knowledge of basic mechanical design should be able to fix it."

"Can I try doing the maintenance this time then? I built Crescent Rose, would that be enough experience?"

"Sure, it should also be quite a bit easier without me wearing it."

She carries my arm over to my station and sits down with my toolbox open to her left, "I remember when you showed me when you were in the hospital after James took over." She said while working, reminding me of the time I had hurt her and Yang.

"I'm still sorry for that…"

"Is James?"

"I don't know…" I say before thinking at James, " _You wanna comment?_ "

"I've been sorry since the minute I did it, but I didn't really want to bring it up if I could avoid it."

" _You better now that you know who you are?_ "

"Much better, and I'm not as bored since I can relive memories in here."

" _I need to talk to you about something, but it will have to wait till later._ "

"Ok, I'll be around."

"You here?" Ruby says, waving her hand in front of my face as she holds up her work.

I take it from her, "Yeah, sorry about that. James says he has been really sorry, but he didn't think there was a good time to bring it up."

"Thank you for not bringing it up James, there really hasn't been a good time."

"You're…" He starts to reply before realizing she couldn't hear him.

"He says you're welcome." I say, until I see Ruby looking off into space, "You there?" I ask, waving my hand in front of her face.

"What? Sorry." She says, coming out of her trance.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important…" She says throwing on her "innocent" voice.

"Ruby…you had better tell me or…"

"Or what?" She says, grinning ear to ear.

"I'll go to the dance with Weiss."

Her grin instantly fades, "You're serious?"

"Completely." I say in a sarcastic tone, messing with her.

"You sure?" She says, moving close to me.

"Can you convince me otherwise?"

I see the rose petals and before I could blink, she was kissing me, hard. She bit down on my lower lip, drawing a small amount of blood and as I tried to pull back, she shoves her tongue in my mouth. In that moment, I realized just how much my teasing had gotten to her, and then I honestly wondered if she was afraid of me leaving her for Weiss.

"I was teasing, I hope you know that." I say after she pulls away.

"You don't tease about something like that, especially about a girl you admitted to having a crush on."

"I admitted it was a thought in my mind, but I also said something changed and I never intended to pursue it."

"Then explain what changed." She says, forcefully.

I sighed, "My little sis liked her."

"What?"

"She never openly said it, but she was always happier around Weiss and she would do anything for her. After she braided Weiss' hair, I couldn't deny that she wanted their friendship to be something more."

"You didn't date Weiss because your sister wanted to?"

"Yep, I always had a feeling Weiss wasn't the type of person I wanted to date anyway, so I decided to wait and see if someone else would come along. Waiting was probably the best decision of my life since I would have disappeared a couple months later, and it allowed me to meet you."

She goes to talk before I stop her, "I love you, please don't think I'd ever do that to you."

"I don't, I just get so jealous."

"You shouldn't be, I'm all yours, no one else's."

"I believe you but…"

"You want me to prove it to you?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

"I thought I agreed to just that on your birthday."

She instantly blushed, "I mean…"

"Can you wait until then? It's only a few weeks or do I need to strip right now?"

"If I asked you to right now, would you?"

"Yes, I wouldn't be happy about it, but I would do it."

She drops back into the chair she was sitting at while she was working on my automail, "I don't deserve you."

"You can't say that after I've already said that to you, it really doesn't work."

"It seems like you've been through so much to be wasting your time with someone as inexperienced as me. I mean look at these designs…" She says motioning to the blueprints I had hung up around my station, "You made these before you were ten, there are plans here for contacts that circumvent the eye and restore sight."

"They're nowhere near complete…"

"So what? You were coming up with ideas like that before you were ten, while I was probably thinking about some cookies."

"Ruby, I was thinking like that because I wanted to make up for my mistakes. I wanted to make up for my mother's death, and for my failure to bring her back. You were thinking about what a ten year old should be thinking about, while I was thinking about how stupid I had been."

She goes to talk before I cut her off again, but this time I just kiss her, "I want you to be happy, so let's go watch another crappy romance movie and have some cookies."

"You know what? Let's do that." She says, before standing, "Are you going to take that with you?" she says, motioning to my new automail.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm comfortable giving up the grenade launcher just yet." I say, popping the nerve connector out once again.

I watched her walk out as I attached my old arm, "You coming slowpoke?"

She calls from outside.

" _You bet I am_ " I think as I blink just outside the shed to one side and pack a clump of snow into my hand.

I creep around the edge of the building to find Ruby had the same idea. She was waiting around the front of the shed with her own ball in her hand.

I catch her in the side with my snowball, "Got ya!" I yell as I sprint towards the house.

She growls, "No fair!" She yells before I see a flurry of rose petals and a spray of snowballs comes my way.

I clap, pulling up a wall behind me, "Missed me ag.." I started before she runs around the wall and pummels me with snowball after snowball.

"Mercy! I surrender!" I say, trying to shake off the snow.

"How am I a better snowball fighter than the girl who lived in Atlas?" Ruby asks, laughing.

"Because you are my girlfriend and I didn't think it would be polite to hit you with more than one snowball." I say, a bit sad she beat me.

"Come on, you started it and expected me not to finish it?"

I flip on Yang's semblance and dry off, "Your sister's semblance is really cool."

"Can you be my heater for a few minutes? That snowball felt like it went right through my clothes."

"Of course, I am a loyal space heater."

She lays up against me as we sit on the couch, "I understand why Blake constantly cuddles with my sister."

"It's not like having Blake in bed with her doesn't have its own benefits." I say as Ruby turns to look at me, "I was talking about petting her ears like Yang seems to be obsessed with."

"Speaking of which…" She says, trying to find my cloaked ears, "turn off the camo."

"No, you have to work for it."

She runs her hand through my hair, finding her target relatively quickly, "You know I have a pretty good idea where they are so you can't hide them from me."

"It's more fun when you look at it as a challenge." I say before I start to purr.

"You're adorable."

"I would try to defend myself, but it feels weird to talk while I'm purring." I say, the rumble still emanating from my chest.

"Well, I want you to sing to me, while you're purring."

"No, I will not, but I will after I'm done purring." The rumbling still slightly affecting my speech.

"You will sing to me?"

"You've done it for me, so I should return the favor."

She stopped petting my ears, and I could tell she wanted to hear me sing.

I close my eyes as I start to sing, "I always admit, The ways of my cowardly past

I can't help that

And still I

Always act like I'm brave

But I'm oblivious

And now it's back to haunt me

Forever

Countless skies that I've painted

Surely, This is where my heart...Finally doesn't fall apart...Won't fall apart

Jumping high from my dreams

I'll fly

No matter what the cost

Today

I'll find

A way

To shake off all the pain

Within my dreams

I'll touch the sky

But I still realize

I won't… survive… the fight

Without you by my side

You give me light

When I have lost my way

I fall asleep

'cause I always find you

in...my...dreams

I'll always be right next to you

I'll give you everything I have."

( **A/N: This is a *slightly edited* cover of Crossing Fields, Written by NateWantsToBattle. Go check out his YouTube channel by the same name for great anime covers.** )

I open my eyes to see tears pouring down Ruby's face, "You made that up just now, didn't you?"

"It was based on a song my brother wrote just before we were kidnapped. He had me do the vocals, so I remember every word. I changed it a bit for the girl I will give everything I have to."

"Forget proving it to me," She says, wiping away her tears, "you didn't deserve me asking you for proof."

"I never thought anything of it, I love you and have no plans to stop." I say, kissing her.

Ding Dong

I nearly jump out of my skin when the doorbell rings, "Stay here." I say to Ruby as I approach the door.

" _Who in their right mind would climb this mountain without knowing what was up here?_ "

I open it to find no trace of a person, not even footprints in the snow, while a small box sat in the middle of the door mat.

" _Another question, who would come all the way up here to put down a package and then leave?_ "

I considered leaving the closed box on the porch, with the thought of a bomb or some other lethal device on the inside, but something told me whatever was in the box wasn't hostile(to me at least).

I picked it up, there wasn't all that much weight to the white box, so I couldn't tell what was in it.

"Who was it?" She asks after I close the door

"I don't know. This was the only thing at the door." I said, showing her the box.

"Are you going to risk opening it?" She asks, knowing I was considering it.

"Yep." I say, grabbing a small pair of scissors from the kitchen to cut through the tape holding the box shut.

"Back away in case opening this is a bad idea." I tell her as I slide the scissor blade across the surface.

I open it and instantly stumble back, " _How the hell are these here?_ "

My hand is on my heart as Ruby asks me what's wrong and goes to look in the box.

She pulls out the pair of white gloves, and looks them over, "What kind of fabric is this?"

"Ignition...cloth." I say, not fully ready to accept their continued existence.

"How would you…"

"They're my father's, and I was positive they had been destroyed in the fire." I say, my face fully drained of color.

"What do they do?"

"A demonstration is more appropriate here." I say, taking them from her hands.

As I slide them on, I can't help but think about whether my father would be proud or ashamed of me for using one of the weapons he swore never to use.

I walk outside, "Stand back." I tell her as I take a deep breath.

I snap, sending a bolt of flame from the spark. I decide to let loose, sending burst after burst skyward.

"My father only showed me these once," I told her, "He said they were the only weapon he regretted creating."

"Why?"

"These gloves only exist to cause pain. Some weapons exist for the protection of others, but flame is all consuming and will always hurt someone you didn't intend it to."

"You seemed to control it well enough."

"I wasn't near anyone but you, and it's not like I was aiming at anything in particular."

"Are you going to keep them?"

"I'm tempted to burn them, and make sure they don't escape being destroyed this time. But at the same time, they're my father's and I don't have much left of him."

"It's not like we couldn't use the extra firepower…" She says, grinning.

"STOP THE PUNS!" I say, clumping up a snowball and throwing it her direction.

A puff of rose petals and she's already in the house, "I'm done with snow."

"If you're done with snow, I'm done with snow." I say following her back through the sliding door.

"Can you take those off please?", Ruby asks, "Not that I don't trust you, but…"

"Oh no, your concerns are perfectly justified. Unlike normal alchemy, this only takes the snap and not the conscious thought." I say as I take the gloves off.

"Thank you, now I want my heater back." She says as she lets herself fall onto the couch.

"Gimme a sec." I say, walking over and grabbing the box of cookies off the counter.

I flip over the couch. Landing on one knee, I present the box to her, "You get first pick."

"Thank you, you should get a reward." She says, holding the cookie in between her teeth.

"Hey, that's my trick." I say, "But I'm not going to pass up a cookie."

We break it off between the two of us, "I love how we don't care who left that package for you." Ruby says, her mouth still full of cookie.

"It was probably Raymond, though I don't know why he has to be so secretive all the time." I say, trying to compare the aura that was there to Raymond's from the other day, finding the two to be quite similar. "I'll ask him about it the next time I see him, but until then, what do you want to do?"

"Movie." Ruby says as she browses through several titles.

She settles on one called the Journal about a woman with dementia who was remembering her past, unknowingly, with the help of her husband.

I tried to pay attention for a while, then wind started to pick up outside and I watched as snow flew by the window.

At some point in my boredom, I got up and made popcorn for the two of us, the bowl sitting in between Ruby's thighs while the two of us ate.

"That ending was so sad, but I couldn't imagine living long enough to get a disease like that."

"Imagine that movie with Grimm in it, much more realistic." I say, with a mouth full of popcorn. I'm not a big a fan of romance movies if you couldn't tell.

"I feel like it wouldn't have been as happy of an ending."

"Not very many are in a world with the creatures of darkness."

"What do you know about the Grimm?"

"Probably less than you, but we can have story time if you want, since going out isn't a good option." I say, motioning towards the snow being thrown around by the wind.

"Well, my dad always told me the world started as only light, the Grimm didn't exist. Then one day, the Grimm came from the shadows created by human buildings. Vicious, bloodthirsty, and serving no purpose but human extinction. Without need for food or water, they waited for people to come for the resources and killed them."

"My story isn't quite as… descriptive. My father's alchemy training made him very scientifically minded when it came to the creatures of darkness. He speculated that there was a single Grimm that split into all the different forms we see today. I know he spent a lot of time in his study trying to trace back data to find the "Father of Grimm" as he called it. I think he wanted to destroy it after he found it, to take out all the Grimm for killing my mother."

"You've never said anything about how your father handled your mother's death."

"That's because he didn't. At first, other than my training and a select few dates, my father shut himself into his study. Most of the time, he barely came out to make dinner. Then I attempted human transmutation and he seemed to leave his study a lot more after that. I think that he was trying to finish the research himself, but couldn't crack it."

"You figured out human transmutation before your father when you were six?"

"I was eight when I finally figured it out, but, yes, I did get there before my father."

"Do you still have your notes?"

"Yes, but I'm not showing them to you."

"Why?"

"Ruby Rose, you know why I'm not showing you, it's to ensure you don't get hurt."

"I want to understand the process, not to attempt it."

"You already understand the process if you've got the basics. The only thing you don't understand is the binding component for the soul, which you don't need to know unless you were going to attempt it."

"Then, what else is there to know about alchemy?"

"Well, there's bio-alchemy, flame, like the gloves I just showed you, almost anything you could think of really."

"What's bio-alchemy?"

"It's the use of alchemy on living organisms, though I'm but a novice in that field."

"It sounds interesting, can you teach me?"

My voice instantly changed into a sorrowful tone, "My brother would be the one to ask if you wanted to be taught bio-alchemy. He was adamant that he could problems with human enhancement through alchemy. He learned some much without being able to see the circles or read the research on his own. After I learned how to read, my dad and I traded off reading to him, day in and day out, until my dad passed away. By that point, he was one of Remnant's leading experts in bio-alchemy. He's the reason I could save your life when Roman shot you. All I had to do was picture one of his circles to mend the wound."

"We'll find him, I promise you that."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Ruby. I've done it on more than one occasion and it didn't work out well."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Would you prefer that or me finishing my story about Cliff?"

"Is one worse than the other?"

"Finishing the story would definitely be worse."

"Then let's get the worst out of the way first."

***Flashback start***

"Report to the training room for mission debriefing." The speakers blared upon our re-entry to the compound.

The two other recruits followed closely behind me, their heads hung low, "You two stay behind me okay?"

The two nod, "Are they going to punish us?"

"No, you two will be fine."

"But what about you Sis?"

"I'll be fine April, don't you worry about it."

"But…"

"No buts, just listen to orders for right now okay?

"I don't know how much more Levi can take." She says, motioning to her brother.

"Are you okay?" I ask him for myself.

"Yeah," He stutters out, "I'll...be...alright."

I start to ask him what's wrong before I see his hand clutching his abdomen, a slight red tint coating his hand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I say, clapping my hands.

I heal up his wound and mend his shirt, his face relaxes after the wound closes.

"Can you teach us how to do that?" They both say in unison.

"I can teach you the healing part, but you wouldn't be able to use your hands to do it." I tell them before a guard comes from the training room.

"Hurry up." He says, pushing the three of us along.

The boss was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, "Welcome back you three, how was your trip to the city?"

The three of us stay silent, "You're no fun, but that's not why I'm here of course. I was told your mission was a success… minus one, small detail. Apparently, you let a little boy witness your assassination, and didn't silence him. Is that correct?"

"That is correct sir." I tell him.

"What was your reasoning for not killing him?"

"He was a young, innocent child, I need no more reasoning than that."

"Showing remorse? I can't say I expected that this far into this experiment." "Take the other two back to their cell," He says, pointing to a guard, "And you cuff her and bring her into chamber six. Tell Cliff he needs to be present."

" _Why does Cliff have to be present?_ " I asked myself as I walked towards my uncertain fate.

Chamber six was quite different from what I had pictured in my head. There was a main room of course, but it had a side room with what looked like one sided glass that allowed people inside to see into the room. It kind of reminded me of an interrogation room in a police station.

The guard, boss and I sat there in silence for a minute or two before Cliff arrived, "What did you need me for sir?" Cliff says.

"This girl is showing remorse, and I want to figure out why. None of the other initiates seem to have this issue, so I can only assume the suggestions you made are the cause. As a result, I want to punish you for your suggestions, while simultaneously torturing our resident rebel."

"Bring her in." He says, speaking into a small walkie talkie.

I look out into the room and watch as one of the guards walks into the center of the room, leading a small child in handcuff with a burlap sack over their head.

The guard sits the child down on a chair placed there, and he yanks the sack off.

It was a girl, who couldn't have been older than five, with tear stains coating the area under her eyes.

I turn to Cliff to see his horror stricken face, "No, you promised you would never get my family involved."

"And you promised to keep these weapons of ours in line."

Then I see Peterson walk in with a cart of various syringes, "I thought you would have had that bastard killed after what he pulled."

"No, no, no, he's much too useful for me to simply kill him off. But let's just say, he won't be able to do that ever again."

I shudder, " _This guy is insane…_ "

"You may begin…"

I watch Peterson pick up a vial filled with a glowing liquid and extract some using the syringe.

He places the syringe into the girl's upper arm, and pushes the plunger down.

The girl's arm begins to sprout what looked like dust crystals as the liquid flowed through her bloodstream.

I nearly throw up as her skin is ripped apart by the dust crystals sprouting from within her body.

Peterson breaks off some of the crystals before they retract and the wounds heal, leaving the girl with scars and scabs all over her body.

"Stop this. You can do whatever you want to me, just please leave my daughter alone."

"Who said you weren't getting punished yourself after this? This was to show Miss Rebel what happens when you let a witness get away. Your little girl just happened to have a similar age to the child she let get away."

I looked to Cliff with sorrow in my eyes, " _I did this, Cliff's daughter is getting tortured because of me._ "

"I'll offer you a deal Cliff, go take the syringe that Peterson has in his hand right now and inject your friend here. Do that and your daughter is free to go."

Cliff practically sprints into the room, but he slows when his daughter starts talking, "Dad...is that you?"

"Yes, it is. I'm going to get you out of here ok?"

He grabs the syringe from Peterson's extended hand and proceeds to step back into the room where I was bound.

"Please, don't do this." I say, really hoping to avoid whatever that syringe had in store for me.

His face had turned to stone in the wake of my plea, but he didn't stop getting closer.

I feel him press it up against me and I watch, helplessly, as he empties the contents into my arm.

I instantly feel nauseous, and then the pain starts. I don't think I could ever describe that pain. To me, it felt like I was being thrown into the sun and burnt alive.

"Take her suppression cuff off so she can heal a bit faster." The boss says.

Cliff does so with alarming speed, and I feel my aura healing, only to have any progress slashed by the injection.

"Nice work Cliff, now about your daughter…"

"You said you would let her go…"

"I never said where I would let her go." The boss says, motioning to Peterson.

I can only watch, not even scream, as Peterson pulls out a gun and shoots Cliff's daughter in the chest.

"NO!" Cliff cries out, slamming his head against the wall.

Through the haze of pain, I think about the fact my cuff is off and I could use my semblance.

" _I need to kill that bastard…_ "

I blink into the room, clapping as I do so, and I grab Peterson's face with my automail.

"Have fun in hell." Is all I can croak out before popping his brain like a balloon using alchemy.

I let his corpse fall to the floor before running as fast as my injection addled legs would carry me over to Cliff's daughter.

I close the wound on her chest and quickly check for a heartbeat, nothing. I get into a steady rhythm with compressions before I hear the door open and guards start to flood in. I throw up my aura as a shield around me and the girl, " _I just need a little bit longer…_ " I think, desperately trying to restart the kid's heart. Then I feel the bullet rip through my side, the aura piercing round going straight through my shield and the little amount of aura that I had let stay around my torso. The force knocks me out of rhythm and I knew there was nothing more I could do. The pain from the wound and the injection catches up with me now that my desperation to save Cliff's daughter had turned to sorrow. I drop to the floor, not caring about what would happen to me after that, and I let the tears run down my face as they cuffed me. They hauled me back to my old cell to be held up by chains once again.

" _I let his daughter die… I could have saved her…_ " Those were the only thoughts to plague my mind until my next mission where I was paired up with my sister. She asked me what was wrong and all I could say was, "I failed...again."

***Flashback end***

"I don't think I'll ever be the same person after that, and I don't think Cliff was either."

"Did he die when the facility collapsed?"

"Not sure, but I'm positive he was dead on the inside the second Peterson pulled that trigger."

"You can't blame yourself Sierra, it wasn't your fault."

"But it was, and until the day I hunt down every single person involved in that freak show, it will never stop being my fault."

"I might go do some tinkering on my automail out in the shed," I say, standing. She goes to follow before I stop her, "I want some time to think about some stuff...alone. Come out and get me if you absolutely need anything."

I sit down at my workstation and put my head in my hands, " _James, I need to talk._ "

"Yes?"

" _It's about Ruby… I don't know if we should be dating._ "

"Where did this come from?"

" _I'm starting to realize just how many people want to hurt or kill me. I know they'll come after her if they come for me, so I want to avoid her getting hurt._ "

"I'm not the one you should be asking about this. Ruby should have a say in whether she is willing to take the risk."

" _But I know she'll be willing to risk it. She's just like Yang in that regard, and I don't want her to get dragged into my past._ "

"Ask her before bed tonight, let her sleep on it, and then we can talk if you're still worried."

" _Ok and thank you._ "

"Anytime."

I lay my head down for a nap and when I wake up, I take inventory of parts and a couple of other small tasks before setting to work on some maintenance on my "new" automail. After taking it apart, I realized just how long this arm had been in storage, and it took me a couple hours to get several of the integral parts refitted. By the time I was done, the sun was already going down and I felt pretty hungry.

I walked back into the house, "Ruby? Where did you go?"

No response, I quickly run to my old room, only to find it empty as well.

" _Where is she?!_ " I think, " _No,no,no, did something happen to her?_ "

I notice her jacket is missing from the rack and her boots are nowhere to be found, but Crescent Rose was lying beside the couch where she had left it while we were watching the movie. Sprinting out the front door, I find footprints leading down the path away from the house.

" _Why would she go out near dark without Crescent Rose?_ " I think, trying to follow the prints as best as I can in the fading light.

That's when I notice the small drops of blood embedded in the snow next to some of the prints, clearly increasing in amount as I followed along.

" _Oum, please let her be alright, please let her be alright…_ "

Then the prints stray from the path, a trail of blood now following beside them. I see a clearing and a dark shape in the middle, not the slightest bit motion coming from it. I gasp as I see that it's Ruby, her abdomen slashed open with what looked to be beowolf claws.

"Ruby! Wake up! Wake up!" I say as I feel for a pulse. Her body was cold, and it was quite clear she died a long time ago.

"No...No...Please Oum...No."

"No… You won't take her to. Give her back, she's the one I love, she's all I have left!" I say, closing my eyes before performing the second human transmutation attempt of my life.

"You won't be successful." A voice whispers in my ear.

I stop and spin to find the corpse I transmuted standing behind me, a small girl with a hole in her chest standing next to it.

"No, you're dead…"

"I was never alive to begin with because of your failure. You couldn't even save this girl…" It says, motioning to Cliff's daughter at its side, "And now because you stopped to speak to me, your girlfriend is gone forever."

"No… RUBY!" I say, closing my eyes and clutching my girlfriend's dead body to my chest.

"SIERRA!"

I open my eyes to see Ruby standing above me, her hands holding a rag and a cup of steaming liquid.

"Don't scare me like that." She says, dabbing my forehead with the warm rag.

"What…"

"I found you passed out in the snow outside the shed. I honestly thought you had killed yourself when I got you inside and took a look at you. The makeup came off in the snow…"

I somehow flushed even more than I already had, "You can see them?"

"The bags under your eyes from lack of sleep, yes. You need to explain yourself right now."

"I can barely sleep in this house without a nightmare, even you here doesn't help. Vision after vision of my family haunt me, and each time, they recite how I failed them. After we got done yesterday, I wanted for us to have time together here, so I hid the bags from you with some makeup I got from Weiss before we left."

"I want you to pick up your scroll and call Weiss, tell her to get that plane to the airport, we're going home tonight."

"No… we don't need to…"

"We promised we would get some souvenirs, and we can do that on the way to the airport. Get your stuff ready to go…"

"I can handle a few nightmares…"

"Not when you're passing out in the snow and getting yourself hypothermia. I should have convinced you to go home after you passed out for two days, but I was too busy thinking about how fun the rest of the trip was going to be."

"Ruby…"

"You know what? I'm calling Weiss myself." She says, striding over to the counter to grab her scroll.

I stand to try and stop her before I fall to the floor, limp.

"Hey Weiss, I'm doing alright yeah. I can't say the same for Sierra though. I'll put you on speaker to talk with her, I'll turn on the camera too."

She walks back over and I see Weiss glaring at me over video chat, "I can't believe you. You lied to me so you could have makeup to cover the bags under your eyes when you couldn't sleep. How dare you do something that stupid!"

"I thought the nightmares would get better with Ruby here. When they didn't, I didn't want to just pack up and leave with no better reason than some stupid dream. I assumed this might happen and got the makeup from you just in case."

"Why do you look so pale?"

I was about to spin up a tale before Ruby interrupts, "She passed out on her way back to the house after doing repairs on her arm, I surprised she didn't get frostbite."

Weiss taps on the screen a couple of times, "The plane is on it's way to Atlas International and a helicopter is on it's way to your house to get you there. I'll have them drop you off a couple of blocks out so you can get Blake and Yang souvenirs like you promised."

I was about to protest before Ruby turns the scroll back to her, "Thanks for the help Weiss."

"Hold on, turn me back to Sierra real quick," She says, "you better be glad I'm not yelling at yelling at you both for sneaking into the hospital under my name and getting shot at."

"Well, I did get a dust sample from your mom." I say, deciding to omit the details about Jamie.

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope," I say pulling the vial from my bra where I had kept it for safekeeping, "I'll get it to you for testing the second we get back."

"You'd better, now get packing, the helicopter will be there shortly."

She wasn't wrong, in the three minutes it took me to pack, the helicopter had arrived. Ruby had me put on some different clothes, my jacket, and wrapped her cloak around me to make sure I was warm.

I loaded my bag onto the chopper and looked back to my house, " _One day, I won't have nightmares when I'm here…_ "

"You two ready?" The pilot called out.

"Yep!" Ruby called back.

I watched as my house faded to black fog as we rose at high speed and were off towards Atlas within a second.

I lent my head up against Ruby's shoulder, and fell asleep even with the sound of the engine droning in my ear.


	17. Meeting New People

"Sierra, we're here." Ruby says, waking me up from my short nap on the way to the airport.

We had landed on a commercial building about 4 blocks out from the airport. Several security guards rushed out and started yelling at the pilot before he showed them his licence, the badge imprinted with the Schnee logo. I watch the guards freeze and silently walk away, each face glazed over with horror. Getting off, Ruby and I start to walk away before the pilot calls out to us, "The pilot for your plane isn't going to wait for long after he gets there, so don't be late!"

He spins the rotors up and takes off, whipping my hair back as he flew away.

"Let's...Ah Choo!" I try to say before sneezing.

"You better be glad a cold is the only thing you got after how long you were out in the snow. Let's pick some stuff out for Blake and my sister, then we can go home."

She holds my hand as we get in the elevator, then I realize what I forgot, "We need to pick up the cookies from ." I say horsely, my throat burning.

"I'll run by and pick them up once  _you_  are aboard the plane."

"Are you seriously going to baby me because of a cold?" I say.

"You could have pneumonia for all we know, and until we know for sure, I am making sure you don't catch something more serious."

"Fine, but once we're home, I can take care of myself."

I start to feel nauseous about half way through our ride and Ruby notices, "You ok?"

"No…"

"Do you need me to carry you?"

"No, I can handle…" I say before losing my balance and bracing myself against the elevator wall.

"I'm going to carry you."

"No!" I object, "Carrying me through Beacon is one thing, but that's not something you do in public. It would be...embarrassing." My face burning with a blush.

"I see," She says, "but you aren't well enough to stop me, are you?"

I feel her arms sweep under my legs and she was right, I wasn't strong enough to do anything but lie there.

The elevator doors open and she carries me out. I watch as people turn to look at the two of us as Ruby walks along, holding a barely conscious girl in her arms. We get out onto the sidewalk, and the way we need to go was relatively clear because of how cold it had gotten after sunset.

"Run...I don't want to...get sick before...we get there." I say, barely avoiding throwing up.

"You will get sick if I run."

"Fine, then put me down and let me walk."

"I'm carrying you and there's nothing you can do about it."

I switch to my sad tone, "Please Ruby, you know I don't like feeling weaker…"

She stops, "I will put you down, but the second you can't keep going, tell me okay?"

She lowers me down and I stand, my legs barely able to support my own weight, "You alright?"

"I'm fine, but I might lean on you a bit."

I didn't stop leaning against her for the entire walk to the airport.

We got there about ten minutes before Weiss had requested the pilot arrive, "You should go get those cookies." I tell her.

"Will you be alright without me here?"

"I can handle myself in an airport for five minutes, go."

A puff rose petals later and Ruby was gone, " _I shouldn't have told her to go before the plane got here…_ "

I sit on a bench nearby, my head drooping from lack of sleep, " _My head…_ "

I look around, watching people stroll by on their way to their various flights, "Are you okay?"

I turn to see an airport attendant and I was tempted to ask her name before the two of us lock eyes.

I knew those eyes all too well, through the last time I had seen them, they were filled with fear with the thought of punishment if escape didn't go well.

" _No way…_ "

"Sis?" She asks me.

"Hey April, it's been a while…"

She practically tackles me in a hug, "You're alive!"

"I'm glad to see you too."

"You don't look well, are you…"

"I'm fine, just a little sick that's all."

"Every single one of us wanted to thank you and your siblings for helping us get out of that hell."

Then I realized that the key to finding my sister was right in front of me, "There's something I have to ask you about that. After I got captured by the White Fang, what happened to my actual sister?"

April's face locked up at the question, "They caught up with us… She fought while the rest of us ran… Last I saw, she was getting cuffed by some guards and taken back towards the facility."

"Didn't it blow up?"

"Most of it collapsed, but I think that was the point. They wanted to fool the Fang into thinking the facility no longer had any use to them."

"The tactic certainly worked on me…I had no intention of going back to look for anything."

"It wasn't like you saw people going in and out after."

"So if my sibling's weren't killed, would they still be there?"

"No. When Levi and I went back to...make peace with the whole thing, the whole area surrounding the building was completely leveled, and a strip mall was set for construction within the year."

"There goes the best lead I've had in three years," I say, slightly depressed, "On a lighter note, how's Levi been?"

Her expression softens at the mention of her younger brother, "He hasn't been the same since we left. He can't hold a normal job. I've been trying to get enough money to support the two of us, but I don't really have any experience for a normal job."

"I have an offer, if you would be willing to consider it."

She motions for me to continue, "Would you like to become a huntress?"

Her eyes widen, "But… I would need a teacher's recommendation right?"

"I know a teacher who would give you one, and you're looking right at her."

"You're a teacher at one of the academies?"

"I teach at Beacon, and I am offering you a spot at the beginning of next year."

"You would do that for me?"

"Of course, even if you're not my actual sister, you're still family."

She hugs me again, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! But what about Levi?"

"I can see about getting him a recommendation, or some help at the very least. So, you in?"

"I...don't know. I want to have a look around Beacon before I decide."

"Could you come with me right now? I mean...my plane out has plenty of space."

"I would love to, but I have to watch over Levi."

"Is his condition that bad?"

"He's...not stable."

I smell the roses as Ruby reappears behind April with the bag holding the cookies in hand, I motion her over.

"Who is this?" Ruby asks, almost sounding jealous.

"Ruby, I would like you to meet April…"

"You don't mean…" Her eyes widening as she thinks about it.

"Yep, that's the one. April, I would like you to meet my girlfriend Ruby Rose."

"Nice to meet you Ruby."

Ruby looks April over as they shake hands, "You don't look like an assassin."

"That was the point. No one would ever expect children, let alone girls, to be some of Remnant's finest assassin's."

"How's normal life suiting you?"

"I'll admit, it's definitely not as exciting."

"Is something wrong?"

"As you probably know, we all experienced some things we'd rather not talk about while kidnapped… my brother and I are no exceptions. My brother sees everyone and everything but me as a threat to his life, so you can see how that would keep him from... functioning."

"After everything Sierra has told me, I can see why he's like that."

"How much has she told you?"

"As much as I have asked her."

"Good, I've been seeing a therapist and he says talking through the traumatic experience can be one of the best ways to heal. I have been working with Levi, and he's been getting better as well."

"I wish I could go see him, but the pilot will leave us if we're late…" I say, trailing off.

"Oh shit!" Ruby says, taking off towards the private portion of the airport.

I start to follow Ruby before turning back, "April, here's my phone number," I say, "Call me if you need anything, I can be anywhere you need me in seconds."

"I remember, but you should run."

I take off after Ruby, waving at April as I go.

Dodging around people leaving the airport, I sprint after the small amount of rose petals I could see.

" _Oh no…_ " I say as my vision starts to go black.

I feel myself falling before I smell roses and Ruby catches me.

"I'm carrying you…" She says before I black out.

* * *

The next thing I remember I'm laying back on a soft bed, Ruby standing over me, a small frown covering her cheeks.

The room around us was quite small, but spacious. Its costly decor screamed Schnee, while the near silent engines were the only sound.

"Weiss has confirmed the pneumonia. You're not working this week." She tells me, sitting down on the corner of the bed.

"I feel like crap."

She hands me a cup of water, "I don't know how you managed to stay conscious while you were talking with April. Your fever is at least a hundred."

"Family has a way of doing that."

"She looked up to you?"

"Yeah, most of the kids did. I always tried to avoid taking any unnecessary lives. My top priority was making sure as many people lived as possible, which isn't something you see out of the typical assassin."

"How many people did you avoid killing?"

"At least a hundred over the three years."

"I want you to think about them as lives you saved. I know you blame yourself for a lot, but that should be something you always remember."

"Saving those people was my only sense of freedom, everything else was decided for me." I reply before going into a coughing fit.

"I'll see if there's any cough medicine."

I watch her go, and I couldn't help but realize Ruby has grown a bit in the month we'd been dating.

"I think she'll be as tall as you used to be when it's all said and done." James comments.

" _I still need to ask her about..our relationship._ "

"There's no harm in asking, but I doubt Ruby would be one to run from a little danger."

Ruby pulls open the door with one hand, the other held a small medicine cup, "Ok, I can already tell you this doesn't taste good, so down it quick."

I take the cup from her and down the syrup. The flavor somewhere between rotten tomatoes and moldy bread(I've had both, neither are pleasant).

"Ruby…" I start.

"Yes?", she asks, but I don't respond, "You don't have to be nervous, just say it."

"I don't know if we should be dating."

She sighs, "I can't say that's what I thought you were going to say, what's on your mind?"

"I'm worried about my past coming back to haunt me and you getting hurt in the process. When I passed out in the snow, I had a nightmare where I found you dead from a beowolf claw to the chest. I don't want to lose you…and if being with me is going to get you hurt then..."

"I chose to become a huntress and you think I'm afraid of a little danger?"

"This isn't a little danger Ruby. I was nearly raped because simply a scientist wanted to, and the only reason I wasn't was because the boss didn't want a pregnant eleven year old girl as an assassin. I don't want anyone to touch you like that...not even me."

"First, I'm not breaking up with you because you have some demons. Second, what do you mean by "not even me"?"

"After what happened to me, I will never touch another human being in that way without consent."

"If I started kissing you and wanted you to, but didn't say anything, you wouldn't do it until I said it was okay?"

"Yep."

"I can't say that would be most people's answer, but you're not most people and I wouldn't change a thing."

"Really? You wouldn't change a thing about me?"

"Well… there's one thing. I would like to see the actual you more, not the personality you seem to use all the time."

I sigh, "The real me died when I was kidnapped and forced to...kill people. The sick, pale girl you see in front of you, is probably the closest you'll get to the actual me. I...remade myself after I was finally free to find out who I really was as a person, not the assassin that I had been made into. I guess… I could try for you, but I know if I try, the person I was during my captivity will come out. I don't want her to come out Ruby, she's…" I say, the crying starting about halfway through.

"Hold on… She's not you?"

"I can't be her, I can't be her…" I start to repeat, nearly hyperventilating.

"Sierra…" I hear Ruby say before she lies down next to me and starts stroking my hair.

"There were points where...I liked what I was doing. Hurting people was fun and taking someone's life was empowering. My sister said she could see my whole demeanor change when it happened, as if I was an entirely different person. I don't do that, I hate hurting someone if I don't have to, so I just...don't know."

"I know you Sierra and that's not who you are. You are a kind, sweet, and cute girl, one I fell in love with. I don't want you to change, let alone go back to who you were in the bad parts of your life. You're my girlfriend now and that's all that matters to me. I shouldn't have even asked that of you, knowing everything you've been through."

I just lie there, letting Ruby hold me, her breath cold against my warm cheeks.

"You shouldn't be so close to me. You'll get sick."

"I've had my aura up, so I can hold you as long as you need me to."

"Then hold me till we get to Beacon."

I don't think Ruby even flinched the rest of the way to Beacon.

I curled into her shoulder, "Go to sleep, you need your rest."

"You're the sick one and you're telling me to sleep?"

"We both could use it…" I say, yawning.

"I'll go to sleep when you do." She replied.

I take a deep breath, "Roses…"

"I'm glad that I'm your personal air freshener."

"Come on, I'm your heater half the time."

"Go to sleep, so that I can follow suit."

I fell asleep, but not before I felt the plane start to descend on what I hoped was Beacon Academy.

* * *

**Ruby POV**

"Miss…" The pilot says, shaking me awake, "We've arrived."

I rub the sleep out of my eyes and stop the pilot from shaking Sierra, "She needs to rest, I can carry her."

I scoop her up into my arms, " _She looks so peaceful when she's asleep…_ " Noticing her sleep soften features.

The pilot ushers me off, "I'll have your luggage carried in as soon as possible."

"Thank you for your service." I say, avoiding bowing to make ensure I didn't drop my girlfriend.

"I can't say I expected a thank you after serving Mister Schnee for so long. Both of his daughters are quite kind and thank me often, but their father…"

"Weiss has told me as much, so I understand. Nice to meet you Mister…"

"Richard, Richard Cooper."

"Ruby Rose, and I'm sure Sierra would be quite appreciative if she was awake."

"I wish her luck on getting well…" He says, before his scroll rings, "That's Mister Schnee now, have a good rest of the day Miss Rose."

I can hear the faint noise of a man yelling as Richard's face begins to pale.

Richard quickly ran around and grabbed our bags out of the cargo hold, "Sorry, I'm not going to be able to carry your luggage for you, Mister Schnee has requested I return immediately."

"It's not a problem, I'll call my sister and get her to come pick them up." I say, waving.

He boards the plane, and goes for a Vtol takeoff, the wings folding up at the sides to reveal high power thrusters that push the plane straight up.

By the time I had picked up my scroll to call my sister, the plane was already out of sight over the horizon.

I dialed Yang, held the phone between my shoulder and my cheek, Blake picked up the phone, "Hi Ruby, have you two landed yet?"

"Yeah, but I need you or Yang to do me a favor," I say, "Sierra has pneumonia if Weiss hasn't told you, and I can't carry her and our luggage."

"Say no more, I'll get Yang out of bed and see to it she gets down there. Is Sierra ok?"

"She's just tired, and she's going to need some serious sleep after what she pulled."

"What did she do?"

"She wasn't sleeping while we were in Atlas. The reason she has pneumonia is because she passed out in the snow from lack of sleep."

"Why wasn't she sleeping?"

"Nightmares, she thought me being with her would help and when it didn't, she didn't want to ruin our trip."

Then I thought about the trip and realized something, "Send Weiss down here too, we have something she needs to get ASAP."

"Weiss!" I hear Blake yell, "Ruby and Sierra are back, they have something for you!"

And then the thought hit me, Sierra and I hadn't gotten anything for Blake and Yang except…

" _No… I can't give them all the cookies!_ "

But then I thought about what Sierra would say, "It was my fault, if I wasn't sick then…"

" _She doesn't need that while she's trying to recover, Sierra is worth more than any cookies could ever be._ "

"She's on her way with Blondie. I'm glad you didn't get shot, especially with our combat test for Goodwitch coming up."

"Aww…shit."

"You forgot about it didn't you?"

"I busy avoiding getting shot!"

"Sierra isn't going to be able to help us train this time, so you're leading the training session."

"I might sit this one out, Sierra needs someone to take care of her."

"If I know Sierra, she's told you that she won't need any help right?"

"Yes, but I feel responsible for her being sick in the first place and she still isn't in the best of ways with her scars."

"As helpful as you can be Ruby, I'm worried Sierra is getting overwhelmed by having someone who actually cares for her. You have to realize you're probably the first person to care for her like this since her dad died. Not to say she doesn't appreciate it, but some time to herself won't be the worst for her."

"You have a point. I'll get her to bed and then the team can go train. See you when we get there."

I turn towards the sound of high heels clicking towards me, I turn and see Weiss practically sprinting in her heels, "Ruby Rose, I want an explanation as to why you two didn't come back the second you got that sample!"

"I don't know, we just didn't see it as a pressing issue…"

"My mother's well being isn't priority!?"

"Sierra determined she was in stable condition and that she would be fine in the immediate future. We only waited for less than a day anyway."

She huffs, "Fine, where is it?"

I think and blush after realizing where Sierra had the sample kept, "It's...um…"

"Ruby, where is it?!"

"It's in Sierra's bra." I blurt out before covering my mouth.

Weiss freezes up, "Well, I guess you have to get it…"

"What? I'm not...No!" I say, my face burning with embarrassment.

"You're her girlfriend!"

"That doesn't instantly give me permission to fish around in her bra!"

"Well someone's got to do it!"

"I will now that you two decided to wake me up and give me a headache." A voice says from my arms.

* * *

**Sierra POV:**

" _Ugh...my head…_ " I think groggily, being forced awake by someone yelling.

"That doesn't instantly give me permission to fish around in her bra!" I hear Ruby yell.

"Well someone's got to do it!"

"I will now that you two decided to wake me up and give me a headache." I croak out.

"Sierra, I didn't mean to wake you…" Ruby says, apologetically.

"It's alright, especially considering I would have punched you in the face on reflex if you started to fish around."

She goes as red as her cloak, "You heard that huh?"

"Yep, I also heard the Ice Queen complaining about the fact she wasn't getting her sample." I say, pulling the vial out of safe keeping.

She goes to grab for it, but I pull it back. "Weiss, don't pressure my girlfriend into feeling me up while I'm unconscious that's not polite if you didn't know."

"Donne le moi!"(Give it to me) She cries before taking it from my hand.

"Vous pourriez être plus poli la prochaine fois, chienne."(You might be more polite next time, bitch.)

"How dare…" She quips

"Ruby and I nearly got shot after getting that for you, you should be thanking us, not trying to rush things." I say, though I couldn't look very intimidating while Ruby was holding me.

"I'm sorry, but this is what I've waited most of my life for, a chance to get my mom back. Thank you both." She says, wrapping her arms around the two of us.

"Weiss...I...can't...breathe…" I say after being squeezed between her and Ruby.

"Aww, look how cute." I hear Yang says as Weiss let's go

"And why did it take you so long to get here?" Ruby asks her sister.

"I may have stopped at the vending machine along the way…"

"YANG!"

"What? I was hungry."

"Regardless, I will see the three of you later. I will be in the dust lab if you need me." Weiss says, running off as fast as she could in her heels.

"Can we go to the room now?" I whine.

"Yes, but do you want me to run?"

"Run Sis, I want to see how strong Sierra's stomach is."

"Fuck you…" I say, my headache feeling like someone was hitting me over the head with an ursa.

"I think I'll walk if it's all the same to you Sis." She says, walking off, leaving Yang to carry our luggage.

"Thank for not running," I say after we get off the landing pad, "I can tell you for a fact I wouldn't have made it back to the room without puking."

"Let's get you some medicine and then you need to sleep this off. Should we get the medicine on the way or should I drop you off before I go to the medical wing?"

"Let's get it on the way since we'll pass by the medical wing on the way back."

The lady at the front desk of the medical wing was quite nice, and said that the medicine would only be effective with extensive bedrest.

"Don't worry, I made the mistake of not sleeping once and I'm not doing it ag..Ah Choo!"

"Make sure she gets plenty of rest Miss Rose, I know her type and she'll try to get out of it before she's ready."

"I'll make sure she gets her rest, thank you Miss Sonya."

We're about halfway back to our room before I realize, "How did you know her name?"

"I got a little beat up in Goodwitch's class one day, so I went down to get some painkillers. She was the one on duty and we talked a bit, her full name is Sonya Dustin."

"She seems nice." I say, yawning and leaning on Ruby.

"Here we are, home sweet dorm."

"Just let me lay down."

"Ok…if you insist." She says.

Next thing I know, she throws me onto the bed and I land with a whoosh.

"No fair, I'm too tired to fight back." I say, crawling up to my pillow.

"Just go to sleep. I have to get caught up on work from while we were away, but I'll be back later ok?"

"Ok." I say, yawning with my eyes drooping.

"Good night." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

"Love you…" I get out before I drift off to sleep.


	18. Under the Weather

I wake up, to what I assume is sunrise the next day, and try to get up before an arm pushes me back down.

"You're not going anywhere, especially without your medicine." Ruby says, walking over to get my medicine.

"Ruby, I can get my own…"

"You've been asleep for a day and a half."

"Oh…"

"Here's some water and your medicine."

I pop the pill in my mouth and chug the water, "How's Weiss?"

"She hasn't come out of the lab." Ruby clears up, "She's been sending us her classwork over scroll, but I haven't seen her come out to eat."

"Speaking of that, can I have something to eat?" I say before my stomach growls in agreement.

"Do you think you can keep food down? I'm your girlfriend, but I'm not cleaning up your vomit if you're being stubborn about what you're going to eat."

"I think I can handle it."

"I'll stop by the cafeteria and get you something before I go to class."

"Ruby, I can go get it myself and I can grab something for Weiss while I'm there."

"No, you need to stay in bed like Miss Sonya told you to."

"But Ruby…"

"A no is a no, now behave."

"I'm not a child." I say, pouting.

"You're certainly acting like it, now stay in bed," She says as I start to throw the blanket off, "for me." She finishes.

I instantly stop and groan, "Fine, I'll stay in bed."

She walks over and pulls the blanket back over me, "Good, now what do you want to eat?"

"Some chicken stew." I mumble.

"Are you sure you can handle the milk?"

"I'll be...Ah Choo!"

"You're getting chicken noodle, and if you can keep that down, we can see about some stew. Sound good?"

"Fine." I grumble.

"Just remember, the faster you get better, the faster we go on our next date. I'll keep you up to date on Weiss' progress, if she tells me anything."

"If she says she needs me, please come get me immediately. I want to make sure her mom gets taken care of."

"Weiss isn't going to ask for help Sierra, you and I both know that."

"Then let me get up and go help her…"

"Even if I let you get up, she's locked herself in."

I give her a flat stare, "It's not like I can teleport or anything."

"She's aura warded it."

"She knows how to do that?"

"She had a book on it under her pillow. I noticed it when I went to grab something for my luggage before we left for Atlas."

"I doubt she's had time…"

"She's trying hard to keep people out, and when Weiss puts effort into something, she has the ability to back it up. I know she has Myrtenaster with her and I doubt she would have any problems kicking your ass with how sick you are."

"But if she needs help…"

"If she knows she can't solve it, she'll ask for help. Right now, she either thinks she can finish the cure or knows so. She will put aside her pride if her mother's life depends on it, but right now, she knows her mother is stable enough for her to take her time. She doesn't need to rush right now, and you being there would stress her out more than it would help."

"I just…"

"I have to get going otherwise I won't be able to pick up lunch for you and Weiss."

"If she won't accept lunch, then come get me."

"Ok, but you'd better be in bed if I have to come to get you."

"Yes nurse."

She stops, as if she's thinking about something, before shutting the door behind herself.

" _Now, I've got to get her birthday present finished…_ "

"You need your rest while you're sick Sierra." James comments out of the blue.

" _Not you too._ "

"You should want to get better. It would be bad it you were sick on Ruby's birthday."

" _But I'm not going to get her present done…_ "

"You'll have plenty of time when you get better. Besides, I don't think Ruby would appreciate her painting if you throw up on it."

" _I'm not that sick._ "

"Then get out of bed and stand up straight for twenty seconds."

I lasted ten before my legs gave out and I fell to the floor.

"You were saying?"

" _I hate you…_ "

"Please rest, don't make me go get Shade so he can tell you off too."

" _Don't. I have enough people telling me off as is._ "

"Fine, but you'd better get to bed."

I did so, grabbing an extra blanket from the floor as I started to get the shakes.

" _Well, good night I guess._ "

* * *

**Ruby POV**

"Thanks!" I say to the cashier as I pay for lunch.

" _I'll take Weiss' by first._ "

The small soup cups rattled around in the bag, which made me constantly check to see if either of the tops had come off.

I reach the dust labs, only to find the second one closed off as well, " _Is Weiss using both the labs now?_ " I think, not aware of anyone else that actually used the labs.

I knock on the first door and get no response. I move to the second door and hear some noise from inside.

I knock, "Weiss…" I start before the noise stops, "I know you're in there Weiss, you need to eat something."

"Go away Ruby, I'm busy…"

"You're not too busy to eat."

"Yes I am, my mother's life depends on this."

"Do you need someone to…"

"No! I don't need help! I have to do this by myself!"

"You're not going to be able to if you are hungry and sleep deprived! Sierra will tell you it's bad decision to go without sleep, and I can tell you going without food doesn't help."

"I'm not opening that door Ruby."

"Sierra said she would come down here to make sure you got something to eat, even with how sick she is. I'm not about to let my sick girlfriend hurt herself because you can't take a five minute break."

I hear her heels click towards the door, it creaks open and my jaw drops. Weiss looked like she had aged ten years. The bags under her eyes looked like my sister had used her as a punching bag.

"Weiss…"

"I'm alright Ruby, but if you have something for me to eat…"

"You're not alright! Stop working for more than five seconds and go look in a mirror!"

"I have to do this! My mother sacrificed years of her life so that I could live, now I have to repay that by making this cure."

"To kill yourself in the process throws away her sacrifice! I'm speaking from experience Weiss."

"What are you talking about?"

"Can I come in and talk?"

She nods and opens the door enough for me to slip inside. The inside of the lab wasn't in a much better state than Weiss, several stations had been pushed together to form a circle around a rotating chair. Weiss passes me a chair before sitting in front of me, "Explain."

"Eat while I talk." I say, handing her the small cup of soup.

I let her start eating before I start, "When my mom died, I didn't really know how to take it. She was my mom and she made me feel safe, and then the Grimm took her away. I remember my dad trying to cheer me up as I sat in my room crying into the cloak my mother had given me, wishing I could have her back. Then, one day, I got angry. I wanted to hurt something, so I went out in search of the things that had killed my mother. I only had a small knife with me, but I was confident I could kill at least one to avenge my mother. The Grimm were drawn to my hatred, hundreds of them swarmed after me. I tripped and fell over a branch, twisting my ankle as I went. I had nightmares for years about those Grimm, their snarls, their blood red eyes, and the smell of the drool running down their faces at the sight of prey. I looked away, ready to be eaten alive, but it never happened. Yang saw me run out of the house, told my dad, and the two of them had come to find me. I'll never forget my sister driving her fist into that beowolf's skull, her eyes burning red from her semblance, while my dad was behind her holding off the rest. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, my dad and I were fine, but Yang had taken a hard slash on her left side to protect me. She still has the scar, one that I could have prevented if I wasn't so hot-headed. My dad lectured me hard, he was furious that I had been so reckless, but then he stopped, looked me in the eyes and said, "I have no doubt it's what your mother would have done." My want to avenge my mother should have gotten me killed, and if Yang hadn't seen me walk out and protected me like she did, it would have."

"Ruby, I'm not a child and this isn't me going after some Grimm…"

"But you're acting like your life doesn't matter if you can save your mom, which is exactly what was running through my head that night. I thought, " _As long as I avenge her, what happens to me doesn't matter_." You can't think like that Weiss, it isn't healthy."

"Ruby...I have to think like that, the cure," She says motioning to all the microscopes and test tubes, "is somewhere here and I have to find it before she runs out of time. I can't lose her for the second time..." She says, tearing up as she finishes.

"You're not alone Weiss, you can lean on other people. Sierra would be more than willing to help you once she gets better. Blake, Yang, and I can help out in the meantime, so if you need something, just ask."

"Thank you." Is all she says before burying her face in my shoulder and sobbing.

"Let it out, let it out..." I tell her softly.

"I don't deserve friends like you guys…" She says, her speech impaired slightly by her crying.

"You don't have to deserve it, we're here regardless."

I sat there, rubbing small circles on her back, "It's alright, you're ok, you're ok… Do you need me to stay?"

"No, you need to get Sierra her food and get to class." She says, sternly

"Hey, that's the partner I know and love. Call us if you need help." I say, walking out of the lab.

"I will, but you need to hurry and get your sick girlfriend some food." She says, gently closing the door, a small smile on her face.

* * *

"Sierra, I'm…" I start as I walk into the room before I see Sierra curled up under two blankets, her complexion unusually pale.

" _She's got a fever again,_ " I tell myself as I take her temperature, " _I think Yang brought a hot water bottle with her, hope she won't mind me borrowing it._ "

I run over to our team's dorm and grab Yang's suitcase from under her bed. In digging around to find the water bottle, I find several...provocative photos of Blake in a kimono, sitting just under some t-shirts.

" _Happy Anniversary from your kitty cat… Jeez, at least hide them better Yang._ " I think as I find the water bottle buried at the bottom of the case.

" _I'll get some water in here since Sierra's takes forever to heat up…_ "

I try to open our bathroom door only to find it locked, which could only mean…

"YANG!"

"Damn it!" A voice calls from the other side of the door, "You were supposed to be in class!"

"I was going to be until I discovered my sick girlfriend had a fever again, and I needed to fill up your hot water bottle. I can take a pretty good guess as to what's going on in there, and you two need to be decent when I open this door."

I give them a minute and open it using the override code. The sight that greeted me confirmed my suspicions, Blake's hair and kimono were slightly out of place, while my sister's usually perfect hair was well out of her usual style.

"Let me…" Yang starts.

"I saw the pictures, you don't need to explain anything. But next time I catch you two doing anything more than a quick make-out session, you will not be allowed in the room at the same time except to go to bed, got it?"

They both nodded, realizing how it must feel to walk in on something like that, "Blake, would you like to say something in defence of your actions?"

She quickly nodded no, "As your team leader, I would like you to speak when answering my questions."

She nods no again, "Blake, what's in your mouth?"

She leans over and spits something into the trashcan, "Nothing."

"Was that catnip?" I ask her.

She hangs her head in shame of being caught, "I asume that was my sister's anniversary gift?"

"I didn't realize…" Yang says, trying to defend herself.

"You didn't realize it would affect her like it does an actual cat? Her pupils are huge Yang, and I can tell she is buzzed. No more catnip for any reason, I'm not letting you drug your girlfriend."

"No Ruby, I asked her for it. I wanted to be more...laid back for our two month anniversary. I've tried it before and it's one of the only things that really makes me relax."

I sigh, "Just...let me get some hot water for Sierra and then you two can do whatever you want."

I push past them both and fill the water bottle in the sink, "Though I have a favor to ask of you Yang…"

"Yeah?" She asks.

"Do you still have my nurse halloween costume from a few years ago?"

"With me? Yeah, I thought it would be good teasing material. Why would you…" She says, gasping near the end, "No! I will not allow what you're about to pull. That costume will be so small on you now."

"Says the girl who I just walked in on about to take her girlfriend in a dorm bathroom!" I say, causing my sister and Blake to blush. "It's for Sierra, and she isn't going to do anything like what I just caught you two up to."

"Fine, it's in the outermost pocket of my suitcase, but you'd better not be doing anything more than dress-up."

"Thank you," I say, turning back to them before closing the door, "Happy anniversary." I say, closing the door behind me.

The costume is exactly where Yang said it was, it looked like it would still fit...except for the chest.

" _The look on Sierra's face will be priceless._ "

I run back over to Sierra's room and slide the water bottle under her layer of blankets.

" _I should have just gotten in bed to warm her up._ " I think, realizing just how long it had taken me to get the water bottle.

"No...don't hurt her…" Sierra moans, rolling restlessly in her sleep, "She's all I have left…"

" _Is she talking about me?_ "

"You won't take her, I won't let you…" She says, her hands gripping the sheets.

I run my hands through her hair to calm her down, but I catch a knot and her hands fly to my throat.

"Sierra...it's me…" I say, trying to snap her out of her trance.

* * *

**Sierra POV**

"Sierra...it's me…" Ruby says, trying to get out from under me.

I instantly throw myself onto the floor to get off of her, "No...I promised myself I wouldn't let you get hurt…" I say, quietly.

"Sierra, it wasn't your fault, you were having a nightmare…" She says, standing to help me off the floor.

"No! Stay away from me!" I say, crawling as fast as I could towards the door, "I'll hurt you if you're near me."

"Sierra…" She says, her tears apparent in her voice, "I need you. You're the only hope I have of getting my mom back."

I stop, "I promised I wouldn't let you…"

She pins me to the floor, her tears falling on my face, "You didn't hurt me, my aura was up, I'm fine."

"How could you love me?" I ask, "All I'm good for is hurting…" I try to say before she kisses me.

She pulls away, "You're a huntress, you're my girlfriend, so don't tell me that you're only good for hurting people. I love you and we can work to fix those nightmares, you're worth so much more to me than that."

"I shouldn't be…"

"You know what? Get in bed, cover your eyes, and I'll show you what I actually came in here to do."

She gets off of me and helps me back into bed, "Now, no peeking."

I close my eyes and I hear her slide into the bathroom. I keep my eyes closed until I feel a tap on my shoulder. My jaw drops, "Ruby…" She had on a nurse's outfit that...fit her really well and I can't say I was expecting it.

"That's Nurse Rose to you, now you need something to eat," She says, handing me a small bowl of soup, "then you need some kiss therapy."

"Yes ma'am." I say, taking a small spoonful, "but can kiss therapy wait until after naptime?"

"I don't think you need a nap, you need some sleep, which means someone to stop those nightmares."

"Do you know anyone who could help with that?" I say, grinning.

She takes off her nurse's cap, "Ruby Rose at your service."

"Funny, my nurse's last name was Rose."

"Well she was also very uncomfortable wearing a really small halloween costume…"

My grin fades, "Why would you wear it then?"

"Your face was priceless and I knew it would make you feel better."

"You being happy makes me feel better, so don't you dare trouble yourself on my account."

"I'll go switch back into my normal clothes and then we can see about that sleep."

"Don't you have to go to class?"

"I missed class a long time ago, the professors will understand." She calls from the bathroom.

She walks back out in her normal sleepwear, and slides into bed next to me, "You sure you won't get sick?"

"I'll be alright." She replies.

"Ruby...if it's all the same to you, I think you look hotter without the nurse costume."

"Thanks." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

"So, are you ready for your birthday?" I ask her.

"I can't wait…"

"Is it because of my gift?"

"That's certainly a perk, but I'll finally be able to get my driver's licence."

"You have your permit right?"

"Yeah, but I want all the perks of being a licenced driver."

"You wouldn't use it outside of Vale, a pilot's licence is what you really want."

"Then why do you have a driver's licence?"

"It was an AHH requirement for me to get one after I got out of the Fang. They wanted to make sure I was fit to be a member of society."

"Well then I guess you have a pilot's licence too." She says, sarcastically.

I don't respond, "Really?" She asks, sitting up in bed.

"Yeah...that one was Ozpin's idea. He wanted me to be able to get out of bad situations if the worst happened."

"As if having wings and being able to teleport wasn't enough…"

"Both of those don't work while I'm exhausted or injured, so he thought it would be useful."

"I'll keep that in mind, but regardless  _you_  need some peaceful sleep." She says, poking me in the nose before laying back down.

She wraps her arms around me, and I fall asleep, listening to her humming a lullaby.


	19. A New Foe

"How's my patient feeling today?" Ruby asks as I open my eyes.

"Ruby, it's been over a week, I'm fine." I say, sitting up to throw a pillow at her.

"Are you feeling up to a spar then?" She says, catching the pillow.

I raise an eyebrow, "Just you and me?"

She nods, "Are you sure?" I ask her.

"Yep, and I don't want you to hold back either. I want to make sure you're ready for action."

"The rest of the team isn't going to help?"

"They're busy getting ready for something later, and you can only come with us if I determine you're actually better."

"You're not just going to trust me when I say that I'm better?"

"I trusted that you were sleeping well when we were in Atlas…" She starts.

"Ok, I get it, I should have been honest with you about it. I'll tell you the truth and nothing but the truth from now on."

"Ok then. Are you looking forward to my birthday tomorrow?"

"Of course, it's my girlfriend's birthday after all."

"I was talking about your promise."

I gulp, "I'm...nervous to say the least. After I hurt you last week, I don't know if I want to risk it."

"First, you didn't hurt me. Second, we don't have to if you're really uncomfortable, but we have to break down those walls at some point."

"It's for your birthday, so I'm willing to try and break down those walls with you."

"Good, now get ready, I only have the gym reserved for an hour."

I got fully dressed for the first time in what felt like forever, "Ruby hold on, I have to make a call real quick."

I dial up Velvet on my scroll, "Hey Sierra, you finally recovered?"

"Yeah, so if you guys are ready for a class, give me a shout and I'll see to it."

"Sure, I'll have to ask Coco, but we should be able to manage tomorrow."

"You guys have been practicing what I taught you right?"

"Yep, and Fox is getting really good with aura sense."

"Good to hear, it will definitely give him a huge advantage when it comes time for the tournament."

"Speaking of which, how will you participate? Teams are limited to four aren't they?"

"I'm pretty sure I would have to enter solo, but I think I can handle myself."

"Oh, I almost forgot, tell Ruby happy early birthday from Team CRFY."

"I'll be sure to tell her, bye Velvs." I say, putting my scroll back next to my laptop.

"What did you need to talk to Velvet about?"

"Continuing Team CRFY's training, she said to wish you a happy early birthday."

"I starting to reconsider Weiss' suggestion for a private party."

"She wants the team to have some bonding time, especially with how distant she's been. From what she's told me, the cure is basically done, and all that's left is some chemical testing to avoid complications when it's administered. She's waiting on the results, but it can take a couple days for the reactions to finish."

"I'm glad to see she's taking it easy instead of stressing over it." She says, walking out the door.

I run out after her, "It's her nature to get things done as soon as she can, which is why she didn't leave the lab for the first couple days."

"Race ya." She says, taking off in a cloud of rose petals.

"Why not?" I say out loud, throwing on her semblance to catch up to her.

* * *

With Ruby's reservation, the gym was completely empty, leaving Ruby and I to go at it.

"You're sure about this?" I ask her.

"Yep, but no help from Shadow. I want to make sure you're back to your normal levels without any assistance."

"Aww that's boring…" I say, drawing one of my swords.

"No using your semblance either."

"What next? You want one hand behind my back or do you want me blindfolded?"

"Blindfolded could be cool."

"You got something for me to cover my eyes with then?"

"Here." She says, handing me a piece of cloth.

"This is going to be fun." I say, tying the strip around my head.

I hear Ruby giggle, "You look like the blind guy from Fatal Fighter."( **A/N: XD** )

"Good, I might try this look more often."

Crescent Rose's familiar mechanical clicking fills the air as I take the stance my brother had taught me for fighting blind.

" _Fighting blind isn't difficult if you remember one simple thing… Every opponent is going to underestimate a blind fighter, and that's all the advantage you need. Use your ears like you would use your eyes. Track their footsteps, dodge hits, and when you find an opening or a weak point, strike._ " My brother's words lingering in my head.

" _Thanks for teaching me brother, now I'm going to use it to show off to my girlfriend._ " I think, as I hear Ruby start to charge.

I catch the edge of Crescent Rose with my blade and spin Ruby off to the side.

"Olé!" I cry, bowing like a bull fighter.

"Don't get too cocky!" She yells, kicking on her semblance.

" _Ruby's been training. It isn't taking her nearly as long to warm up to full speed._ "

I listen as she tries to tiptoe behind me, using her semblance to make excess noise so I couldn't track her footsteps.

" _I was taught by a blind sniper, and she still thinks a bit of extra noise will throw me off._ "

I spin, tilting my blade upward slightly to hold Crescent Rose in place after we make contact.

"Having fun?" I ask her.

"Yeah, the faces I'm making at you are great."

I throw a quick punch to back her up, followed by several sword swings at her legs, which she deflects with the base of Crescent Rose.

I grab Crescent Rose with my automail and use it to vault over Ruby's head, grabbing the back of her cloak with my other hand.

I put my blade to the back of her neck, "Checkmate."

"Not quite." She says.

She quickly spins, planting a kiss on my lips, before twisting my sword arm behind my back and tackling me to the floor.

"No fair, kissing is cheating."

"All's fair in love and war babe." She says, pulling the blindfold off of my eyes.

"Did you just call me babe?" I say, giggling.

"Yeah, but I think I'll stick to kitty though."

"Not out in public Ruby…" I say, looking around to make sure no one had snuck in while we were sparring.

"No one will know what I'm talking about, but if you really want to be safe, I won't say it anymore."

"So am I clear for duty?"

"Yep, be ready when I call." She says, getting up.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to do some maintenance on Crescent Rose because of our spar. I'll meet you in the team dorm after I'm done."

"Aren't your tools in our room?"

"No, you actually cracked one of the receiver plates, so I'm going to head down to the armory to see about getting it welded back together. Now that I think about it, we need to get you up to speed, go by our dorm and ask Blake to fill you in." She says, hefting Crescent Rose onto her shoulder.

"You're not going to fold her up?"

"The crack could get worse if I fold her up, so I'll keep her open for the time being. See you when I get back." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

"Have fun!" I say, sliding my sword back into its sheath.

I walk back to the RWBY dorm, humming the tune of Achieve Men's latest single. The RWBY dorm is practically empty with the exception of Blake sitting on her bed, her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a pair of glasses on her nose.

"I didn't know you wore glasses Blake."

"I don't have to, but these help with headaches I used to get when I would read a lot."

"Ruby says you can get me up to speed."

She sighs, taking off her glasses, "Weiss confronted me a couple of days ago on how distant I've been. She said she's had reason to be while I couldn't justify mine. I explained I'm concerned about what Torchwick and The Fang are planning. The amount of dust they gathered could be used for a serious attack. I can't just sit here and let that happen. Ozpin and the police don't know the Fang like you and I do, so I suggested the team do some recon."

"What's the plan then?"

"I'm going to a local Fang rally, Weiss is going to the comms tower to see about getting some Schnee company files, and Yang is going to talk to one of her sources on the shady side of Vale."

"She's not going to Junior's is she?"

"You know him?"

"No. I just know what happened last time Yang went to Junior's. Let's just say that Junior didn't take kindly to her wrecking most of his club."

"Would you go with her then? Make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy?"

"I feel like you're the one I should be going with if we're concerned about safety."

"I can handle myself with the Fang, but I don't want Yang to get hurt."

"Yang's seen her fair share of conflict, so I don't see why you're concerned about her well-being."

"I'm concerned about how hot-headed she is, and I can't be there to cool her off."

"You're the only one who can. Me going with her is like wearing all red to a bullfight. I don't think she's gotten over Ruby dating me yet, so me going is likely going to make her less inclined to hold back. How about I go to the Fang rally, while you go with Yang?"

"Do you think you could handle the Fang rally on your own?"

"I'll manage Blake, as long as you and Yang stay safe. With that out of the way, whatcha readin'?"

She blushes before sliding the book under her pillow, "Ninjas of Love…" She mumbles.

"Blake Belladonna, you dirty kitty cat."

"I read it for the story alright."

"It's good for when you're in heat too right?"

"Yang's better…" She says, grinning

"Blake! I didn't need that picture in my head." I say, holding my hands over my eyes.

"Who knows, maybe you'll have heat because of your ears."

The color drains from my face, "I hope not."

"You never told me what happens to you instead of heat."

"It doesn't matter…"

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"I...molt."

"Molt?"

"All my hair falls out, and the skin on my wings starts to peal off. Then I get really weak for a day, practically keeling over." I say, my head in my hands.

"That doesn't happen every month does it?"

"No, there isn't really a set time for it. I haven't in awhile, so I'm worried that it's going to happen just before the dance."

"You'll be alright. Ruby doesn't care, as long as you explain and don't leave her in the dark."

"I don't know if I can tell her…"

"It's okay to be nervous, but Ruby will understand. Yang understood when I told her about heat and that I want to be alone when I'm in...that state."

"So you were lying earlier?"

"Yang has never been with me during heat, and will only join me if I ask it of her. I'm sure Ruby wouldn't mind helping you during either event."

"No, if I do have heat, I will make sure Ruby is nowhere near me. I've promised myself I won't do anything like that without her consent, and my thoughts wouldn't be clear enough for me to ask her."

Blake puts a hand on my shoulder, "You're too strong-willed for that, heat just makes you...more open to the idea."

"Then there's her birthday…"

"She's asked for it huh?" She says, placing her hands in her lap.

I nod, "I don't know what to do Blake. As confident as I am, I'm nervous about this, to the point, I don't even know if I could do it."

"One sec," She says, reaching under her bed. She pulls out her suitcase, "This should help."

I turn over the bag she gave me, "You're giving me catnip?" I say, frowning.

"If you have enough panther faunus in you to give you ears, I'm sure this will calm you down. Just have a small amount before Ruby's party and it should last well past the time you need it to."

"How much you wanna bet if I had asked Yang for help alcohol would have been involved?" I say, sliding the bag into my pocket.

"That's a given with Yang."

"Any other suggestions?" I ask, timidly.

"Well, what's your current plan?" She asks.

"I was going to give her the painting I've been working on, then...I don't know."

"How much do you know about foreplay?"

I blush, "Very little. I don't really know all that much about...sex in general."

"You would pleasure Ruby like you pleasure yourself."

"About that…" I say, hanging my head in shame.

"Wait, you've never…"

"Nope, being chained to the ceiling doesn't allow you that much...freedom, and it wasn't really on my mind after leaving the Fang. I get the touching part, but that's about it."

She sighs, "This is a first for both of you, so no matter what, it's going to be awkward. You should just be able to do what's natural, and if you can't, let Ruby lead since she might have just a little more experience."

"Is there anyway for me to make it more...personal?"

"A little dress up never hurt, do you have some lingerie?"

"No, even if I had some, I doubt it would fit me now." I say, motioning to my long legs.

"The kimono I was wearing in the pictures I gave Yang, I can lend it to you if you want."

"Would it fit me?"

"Yeah, we're about the same size. You're just a bit taller, which would show off your bust a bit more."

"How do you talk about this so casually?"

"I read Ninjas of Love."

"Oh...I guess that makes sense."

"I can give you the first book, so you can get some pointers before tomorrow. Maybe even get some experience…"

"You're telling me to…"

"Yes, I would advise taking a long shower after we get back from recon."

"Ok." I say, nervously, "I'll read it, but I'd prefer not to...experience it."

"You have a pack of cards?" I ask, noting a stray joker sitting on the edge of her nightstand.

"Yeah, you wanna play some poker?"

"I'd prefer blackjack, since Ruby has told me that you have some skill in poker."

"Nah, having one of my clones shuffle was a real advantage."

"You can see through your clone's eyes?"

"If I concentrate, I can do it for a couple seconds, which is just long enough to see what people got dealt."

"Try not to abuse that, now let's see how well you do without cheating."

* * *

The rest of the team walks in as Blake throws down her final hand, "So close…" She says, sounding frustrated.

"You were one five or more away from winning the whole thing."

"You beat Blake at cards? I thought you said you weren't a miracle worker." Ruby says, sitting next to me.

"I'm not, I've just played a lot of blackjack. You're going with Weiss aren't you?" I ask her.

"Yeah, you want me to go with you?"

"No, Blake and I switched places, she's going with Yang. I'm going to the Fang rally."

"Are you sure you can handle going alone?"

"She doesn't have to." A voice calls from the window.

I look over to see Sun, hanging upside down by his tail, looking at me.

"You're willing to go with her?" Blake asks.

"Yeah, she's going to need backup going into the lion's den."

"We were trying to keep friends out of this, it could get you hurt." Ruby points out.

He shakes a finger, "You always get friends involved, that's why I brought Neptune." He says, motioning to his side.

The team peaks our head out the window to find Neptune flattened against the wall, "How did you get up here?" I asked.

"I have my ways, but can I come in? We're really high up."

They both hop through the window and dust themselves off, "So what's the plan?"

"Sun would be going with Sierra to the White Fang rally, and Neptune can come with Yang and I as backup." Blake concludes.

"Ok, so how's Sierra going to fit in at the White Fang rally?" Neptune asks.

I facepalm, Neptune wasn't at the docks when I got my ears. I drop the cloak on my ears, "Tada!"

"Won't someone figure out they're fake…" He says, swatting my ears.

I growl on instinct and cover my mouth after, my face burning hotter than the sun in the middle of July( **A/N: I had to...** ).

His eyes widen, "Those are real, aren't they?"

The rest of the group nods at him as I consider several different ways to break Neptune's legs.

"You'd better be glad you're not coming with me;otherwise, I would consider selling you out to the Fang. Let's go Sun." I say, walking out the door, cheeks still bright red from embarrassment.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Neptune yells out after us.

"That's the only reason your legs aren't broken!" I called back.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Sun asks after we get on an airship.

"We go in, see what they're up to, and then we get out." I say, flipping my hood up.

"What's with the getup?"

"It's an old outfit of mine, I wanted to see if it still fit."

"Was it a halloween costume or something? You look like you could kill someone in that."

I almost laugh to myself, " _This was my covert wear for assassination missions. Quite a few people have been killed while this hood was on my head._ "

I feel the ship come to rest on the landing platform, "Follow me." I say as we get off the airship.

I pull a remote out of my pocket, one click and the cargo hold of the airship opens up. My motorcycle sits at the top, quite shiny from my last polish job on it.

"How did you get this on the ship before we left?"

"I blinked it on, also grabbed the remote from the bridge of the ship, which reminds me…" I say as I blink back up to the bridge.

"Hi, I borrowed this…" I say as I hand the astonished pilot back the remote, "Bye!" I say, blinking back to Sun.

"Why would you go to the trouble of bringing your motorcycle if you could just blink there?" Sun asks.

"Why don't you walk around with a squad of clones? Because it's really draining even over short distance, and my aura's recharge rate is actually quite slow, I just have a lot of storage." I explain as I mount the bike I had still yet to name.

"You comin'?" I ask, handing him a helmet.

"How fast this old bird go?" Sun asks, noting the bike's older appearance.

"You'll see." I say, revving the engine.

"Holy shi…" He starts before I gun it.

I jump off the landing platform, and head towards the shady side of Vale.

"Sierra, are sure this is a good idea?" James asks.

" _I'm positive it's a bad idea, but we need information and this is one of the best ways to get it._ " I tell him as the wind whips at my hair.

"Just be careful, like Sun said, you're walking into the lion's den."

" _I will try, but no promises._ "

You could tell the second you crossed into the shady side of Vale. People were standing on street corners waving spare change signs, while most of the homes were decrepit and worn down.

"I'm parking a couple blocks down, we're walking the rest of the way."

"Ok."

The warehouse the rally was being held in was one of the nicer looking ones. Its exterior wasn't clean, but it certainly wasn't as dirty as the surrounding ones. There was a faunus standing watch by the door, "Hey you two!" He calls out, "Stars fall without sound…"

"Some weep helpless, day through night  
Ever wondering how  
Never knowing why …" I mutter in reply.

"Welcome brother and sister." He says as we walk through the door.

"How did you know what to say?" Sun whispers to me.

"It's a long story, a story I'm not really fond of telling." I murmur back.

"I'd like to hear it some day, when you're ready of course."

"Someday Sun, someday."

We make it into the main room, which was filled to the brim with other fauna. All of their faces turned toward the center stage, a stage held by a White Fang higher up.

"Thank you all for coming. For those of you joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you he is the key to obtaining what we've fought for for so long!" The man says, motioning to a very familiar red-head.

"Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause!" Roman calls out to the crowd.

"What's a human doing here?!" Someone shouts out from just in front of us

"I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"

"Sierra, is he going somewhere with this?" Sun asks.

I shush him, and continue listening, "But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms! Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."

Roman snaps to signal the curtain's fall, and my jaw drops at the mech behind it, " _An Atlesian Paladin-290...I didn't think those hunks of junk got out of the prototype phase._ "

"As some of you might have heard, this right here," He says, tapping the Paladin, "...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, "hit the shelves". Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The crowd roars in response.

"We should go now right?" Sun questions.

"Will all new recruits please come forward?" The lieutenant calls out.

"Fuck." I swear under my breath.

The two of us were herded towards the stage in the sea of new recruits, "You have a plan?" Sun asks

"Give me a minute."

"Roman sees us…" He says, smiling as if to throw them off.

I look around trying to find a way out when I see a fuse box, "He can't see in the dark."

I pull one of Sun's nunchucks off of his belt, and fire a round through the fuse box.

"Don't let them get away!" Roman yells.

"Sun! The window!" I yell, throwing myself through it.

"Stop them!" Roman yells after us.

I land on a truck, and use my momentum to throw myself from car to car. I glance back as the Paladin breaks through the wall and begins charging after us.

"I'll be honest Sun, I didn't think I'd be dusting off my parkour skills today!" I shout, doing every flip I knew to do, while still keeping eyes on the Paladin behind us.

"So you wouldn't happen to have... oh, I don't know... some form of backup?!" Sun yells.

"We could probably take…" I start before I hear a screeching sound above us. A White Fang dropship was in hot pursuit carrying a second Paladin.

"On second thought, I'll make that call."

I pull out my scroll, "Everyone, if you can hear me we need back…"

"HELP!" Sun screams, "Big robot, in fact two big robots. Torchwick is in one!"

"Where are you guys?" Yang yells back.

I notice a familiar blonde with a motorcycle on a road beside us as we run past, "We're behind you!" I call out as we run.

"You need to get the Paladin away from the highway, people could get injured." James points out.

" _You realize there are two of them right?_ "

"Then pick one and let Team RWBY handle the other one."

"Sun, keep him busy, I'm going after the dropship." I say as I whip my overcoat off and pull out my wings, "Ruby, you guys have Roman to yourselves, I'm going after the dropship." I say over scroll.

"Roger that, good luck!" Ruby replies.

I jump from the side of the bridge, just as I see Weiss engage the Paladin.

" _They can handle it…_ " I think, banking around to fly straight at the drop ship.

I let the ship pass under me, before slamming my automail into the outer shell, holding me in place.

I flip into the passenger area, to find it completely empty.

" _They didn't send anyone to guard the second Paladin?_   _I don't think there is even a pilot, though I sense an aura coming from the back cargo hold with the Paladin._ " I go to open it, before the door is ripped inward.

The creature that left the door was not human, his fat form barely fit through the door. His legs were stubby and didn't look as if they should support such a large body. His head almost looked like it had been taken off another body with how small it was in comparison to the rest of his form.

"Little bat," The creature mumbled, "Father said I shouldn't eat this one."

" _What the hell is this thing?_ "

"What exactly are you?"

"I'm Gluttony, my father made me."

"He made you?"

"I'm a homunculus."

My eyes widen, " _This thing is a homunculus? My father said that homunculi were just a theory."_

"He said to keep people from touching his toy, are you trying to touch his toy?" The thing said.

"I was planning on it." I say, not really knowing what to expect.

"I guess I get to eat you after all…" He says politely before lunging at me, teeth bared.

I duck and watch as he takes a bite out of the ship wall behind me, " _Ok...this is going to be fun_."

He spits the metal out, the piece clipping my arm as it fell. I lift my arm and notice a gash over the surface, nothing critical, but something my aura should have prevented.

" _What's going on? My aura should be at nearly full charge."_ I think as I try to assess the situation.  _"It must be the homunculus. I'm going to have to fight under the assumption my aura isn't going to help me._ "

"I assume that counts me out?" James asks.

" _Guess I'm fightin' this the old fashion way."_

He goes to swing at me and I duck underneath the blow, rolling toward the back of the ship.

"Sierra, take out the Paladin first, then the homunculus."

I drop into the cargo hold and bring myself to a standing position, " _It will take him a while to get…_ "

The ship lists backward as the blub of fat rips the door frame off and throws it over the Paladin's cockpit.

"You look delicious!" He says, lunging again.

I jump on the Paladin, "Get me now!" I taunt him.

"Father will get mad if I break his toy…" The homunculus says to himself, "But I'm HUNGRY!" He yells, throwing himself at me.

I draw my sword and slash his arm as I run down the Paladin's extended arm.

"That hurt." He exclaims.

I look back, expecting there to be blood, only to see the wound mend itself instantly.

" _Enhanced healing...fuck._ "

The ship banks hard right, throwing me off the Paladin, slamming me against the wall.

"Sierra, you said you didn't sense a pilot, so then how is this thing airborne?" James asks.

" _Remote control I would guess, maybe some sort of autopilot._ " I tell him as I dodge the homunculus' charge.

"Where is it headed then?"

" _I can figure that out..._ " I think as I start to move towards the passenger area once again.

"No, I have to eat you." The homunculi says as he blocks my path.

" _after I deal with this guy._ "

I use Ruby's semblance to run around him with my blade extended, creating a whirlwind of death…one that he healed from completely.

I try to back up, only to hit a wall, "Now I can eat…" He says.

I clap and transmute the wall behind me, sending a spike of metal directly through his throat, decapitating him. The headless body falls to a sitting position, and I scuttle away from it. The severed head dissipates in a puff of black ash, and I sigh in relief.

" _Ok...that was unexpected. Now, let's figure out where this bird is going._ "

I stand, take one last look at the...thing I had just killed, and walk to the controls.

" _Ok, we're heading southeast out of Vale…_ "

"Sierra…" Ruby says, through some static, "Are you okay? Please answer."

I go to pick up my scroll, but I freeze upon seeing a shadow…

"EAT!" Gluttony says, biting down on my automail.

I feel him sever the hand from the grenade launcher casing, then I pull the internal trigger for the launcher. His head pops like a bloody balloon, and I use both legs to push him into the co-pilot's seat. I scramble back, and watch in horror as his head regenerates.

" _I have to destroy every little bit of him…_ "

I look around, trying to think of something capable of that. That's when my eyes gloss over the Paladin, " _The Paladins use a new power source Atlas developed, one that uses a dust core._ "

I bolt towards the Paladin as I hear Gluttony rise once my sword with my normal hand, I quickly scale the Paladin.

" _Now, if I were an Atlesian engineer, where would I put the power core?_ "

I glance over the Paladin's armor plating, and notice quite a bit around the center of the "chest".

" _Well...that was easy._ "

I cut through the outermost armor with my sword, but the inner layer is too thick. I go to transmute it...before realizing that I didn't have a hand.

" _Shit!_ "

"Time to eat!" Gluttony says as he waddles back into the cargo hold.

" _It needs to go down his throat anyway, might as well get him to do the hard work for me._ "

"Hey lard for brains! Come and get it!" I yell, taunting him.

"You're making me hungry!" He says, jumping with his mouth unhinged like a snake.

I flip up to land on the Paladin's head, and watch as his teeth go through the inner armor like it was butter. I look and see the core, still intact, sitting in its chamber. I jump down, throwing Gluttony back as I grab the dust core.

"How do you intend to make it go critical without alchemy?"

" _Hitting it with a sword, duh._ "

I swing my sword as hard as I can, cracking the the outer casing, and producing a large amount of sparks. I hear the dust start to pop and crackle, as Gluttony tries to charge me again.

I jump up and pin my arms in between his jaws, "I hope...you're...hungry!" I say, holding his mouth open just long enough to get the core into his throat.

I drop from his grasp and sprint away from the time bomb I had just created.

"Come back, I just want to eat…" He starts before I jump from the cargo bay. The back of the ship goes up in a giant fireball, the engines creaking and groaning as I get to the pilot's seat.

"There's an empty field off to the left…" James says.

I turn the ship that direction, grab my scroll, and jump out of the open passenger doors. I let myself free fall before extending my wings and heading far enough away from the ship as to not be caught in the explosion.

I watch as the ship makes impact and the engines explode, before long the field was ablaze, coated in the leftover engine fuel. I walk closer, holding my hand above my eyes to lessen the blinding light.

"The Paladin's destroyed." James comments.

" _The Paladin isn't what I'm worried about._ " I add, trying to see if Gluttony had managed to survive the explosions. I see a glimmering red rock amidst the flames…

" _Is that a philosopher's stone?_ " I think, moving closer.

Bolt of red lightning start to burst from the stone, as flesh seems to form around it. I turn and run, knowing I couldn't take Gluttony again, but then a scream comes from behind me. I glance back to see Gluttony, half formed, squirming on the floor.

" _He's burnt the stone out, it doesn't have enough energy to reform him._ "

I walk over and crouch beside the quivering homunculus, "Please help me, it hurts." He pleads.

"I can't help you, you bit off my hand." I say, holding up my handless automail.

"It's over there, it came out when I blew up." He says, pointing with a half formed finger.

I lean up to see the hand sticking up out of the ground, "Ok...give me one second."

I walk over and inspect the damage, " _The hand itself isn't damaged, looks like he broke the hinge when he bit down. Just goes to show how good my dad was…_ " I screw the artificial nerves back in and flex the fingers. I turn my attention back to Gluttony. "If I fix you, are you going to attack me?"

"No, you're being nice. Father said to be nice to nice people."

"Then why did you attack me earlier?"

"Father said to keep anyone who came busy, he said he wanted to see who would come."

"Ok, I'm going to fix you now, hold still." I say as I clap.

I regenerate most of his lower body, leaving of some of the fat for time's sake.

"Do you feel better now?"

"A bit, but Father can fix me all the way when he gets here."

" _Wait...what?_ " I think before I feel something hit me over the head. I fall to the ground, my vision going dark.

"Now, now Gluttony. You don't look as bad as I thought you would." A male voice says.

"Yes, the little bat helped me." Gluttony responds.

"She did now? I guess I should do the same." He says as I hear footsteps approach where I lay.

"Let's fix that wound I inflicted on you." I hear the voice say. I feel a hand press to the back of my head, the pain goes away, but my vision doesn't clear.

"We can't meet just yet, so you'll have to pass out for the time being." The voice says in a steely, calm tone. I watch as he takes my scroll from its pocket and drops it in front of me, he had turned on the distress beacon.

"I'll see you soon, Grey. Come Gluttony." The voice says as the two walk off.

" _He didn't draw a transmutation circle or use his hands, so how did he use alchemy?_ " Is my final thought before passing out.

* * *

I wake up in my dorm room at Beacon, and I honestly wonder if that whole encounter with the man Gluttony called Father was just a nightmare.

" _He used alchemy with no transmutation circle and successfully created a homunculus, whoever he is knows what he's doing and he has access to at least one philosopher's stone. James, should I tell Ruby?_ "

"About what part? It seems like you'll have to say something about Gluttony to explain what happened, but the stone and "Father" don't have to be mentioned."

" _I'll tell her all of it, she deserves to know…_ "

The door opens to reveal Blake walking in with a small tray of food. She stops and sits the tray down on my nightstand, "How you feelin'?"

"Fine, tired, but fine."

"Ruby will be down shortly, Ozpin and Ironwood had to speak with her."

"Is Team RWBY in trouble?"

"More than likely if Ironwood is involved, we went and engaged Torchwick without authorization, but we'll be alright. What happened on your end?"

"A lot to say the least, but nothing you'd understand, no offense."

"Alchemy stuff?"

"Yeah, some that even I don't understand. I want to talk to Ruby about it."

"She'll be down as soon as she can be, but you need to eat in the meantime. I didn't know what you'd want, so I got a little bit of everything."

I notice a book among the various plates, "That's the first book?"

She nods, "I wouldn't advise reading with Ruby around if you catch my drift."

"I...actually don't feel as nervous about tomorrow after tonight's events." I say, the book extended towards her.

She takes it, "What made you change your mind?"

"I've got a lot of other things on my mind that take up the nervousness department."

"See you tomorrow Sierra." She says, turning to leave.

"Wait…" I say.

She stops, "Do you have any more pointers?"

She walks back over and sits down on the corner of the bed, "What do you want to know?"

"What's off limits the first time?"

"Well, my first time was with Yang, so I don't know if I would be the best person to ask about that one. Though it would depend on the person, you'd just need to determine where each of your limits are."

"Should I start or should I let Ruby?"

"Again that's up to you. If you like being the dominant one, then be dominant. If you like Ruby having the power, then give it to her."

"Anything big I should know?"

"There's really only one golden rule with sex, it's be gentle and if either of you want to stop, then stop."

There's a knock at the door, "That'll be Ruby, goodnight Sierra."

"I might want that book…" I mumble at a volume I think is too low for her to hear.

Something lands on my stomach, "You might want to hide it before I open the door."

I quickly slide it under my pillow as she lets Ruby in and lets herself out. Ruby runs over and crushes me in a hug, "I thought you were hurt…"

"I'm fine," I say before she gives me a look, "Seriously Ruby, I'm fine."

"Then explain why we found you in the wreckage of the dropship."

I tell her everything about Father, the homunculus, the philosopher's stone at his core…

"So if we find this Father guy, he would have a philosopher's stone?"

"It's our best bet."

"Where do we find him?"

"I don't know, but he said he would see me soon. I have to assume that means he's after me, or he's got some involvement with Torchwick."

I notice Ruby's tired appearance, "You tired?"

"Yeah, fighting a giant mech suit and getting chewed out by Ironwood will do that to you."

"So can I hear about your adventures tonight?"

She tells me all about the fight, the combo moves, and how Ozpin had commended her.

"He said he was proud to have a student that could lead a team the way I did."

"What did Ironwood say?"

"Team RWBY is under school arrest for the next week. No trips to Vale, no missions, no late night cookie runs…"

"No dates…"

Her aura flares, "I didn't even realize...We won't be able to go on our date this week…"

I rub her back, "It's okay, we can have a date some other time."

"I had it all planned out and…" She starts to ramble.

I silence her with a kiss, "There's no sense in worrying about it now, you have a  _very_  special day tomorrow, and I want you to be well rested."

"I'm still mad…"

I kiss her again, "Mad still?"

"Yes."

I kiss her again, "Still mad?"

"A bit, maybe one more."

She closes her eyes in anticipation, but I have an idea. I kiss her neck softly, and she gasps, "I don't think you're mad anymore." I murmur into her ear.

She nods in agreement, "Good, but we should get some sleep."

"Ok, I love you." She says, kissing me.

"Love you too." I say.

She wraps her arms around me and I start to hum a lullaby just like she did when I was sick. I went to sleep ready to make my girlfriend's birthday the best she'd ever had.


	20. The Rose's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut in this chapter, I put a warning before so those who want to avoid it can. It holds no value to the plot.

"You look so peaceful when you just wake up." Ruby says, brushing my hair away from my face.

"No...Five more minutes." I say, pulling my pillow over my head, which was a mistake given "Ninjas of Love" was sitting underneath and I had to push it off my bed to keep Ruby from seeing it.

Ruby wraps her arms around the back of my neck, "Will you get up now?"

"I was joking about wanting five more minutes. How could I be that selfish on my girlfriend's birthday?" I say, leaning up to kiss her on the cheek, "So what time does Weiss have the party set for?"

"Later this afternoon. She thought you and I would be going out for lunch, but that's not going to happen now."

"We can go anywhere in the world I've been Ruby, and Ironwood can shove it."

"I would do it, if it wouldn't cause trouble for the others. I don't want Ironwood to find out about Blake's past."

"That  _is_  true," I say, half-heartedly, " _but_  that's only if he sees you leave."

"I don't want to risk it…"

"We could spend the time before your party in Mistral…" I whisper in her ear.

"Dolphins?" She says, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

"If you want to go, we can be there in less than a second." I say, forming a small portal in my hand.

"You wouldn't have enough aura to bring us back."

"I would if I went to bed right after we got there."

"Then no. I want to spend my birthday with you, the first of many I hope."

"Remember what I said, "I'll always be with you.""

"My mom said that too…" She says in a sad tone.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about. She went on a mission and never came back. You at least have some closure, knowing how she died…"

"I don't actually know that. All we found was her cloak covered in blood, we never figured out what exactly killed my mom. Other than me…" I say, my head hung low in shame.

"You know it's not your fault."

"The first time maybe, but the second time was because I wasn't strong enough."

"You were just missing a piece, we all make mistakes…"

"I just make them way too much, and at the wrong times."

"I'm going to say again, no story you've told me was your fault."

"When you think about it, all of them are my fault. I got kidnapped in the first place."

"How is getting kidnapped your fault?"

"I'm a trained warrior Ruby. My father taught me how to beat any opponent, and after all that, I get caught out by some cheap mercenaries."

"You couldn't have known they were coming for you."

"I should have been on my guard instead of taking a break to sleep."

"You can't blame yourself."

"I…" I start before she kisses me.

"It's my birthday, and my wish is for you not to blame yourself for what's happened in your past." She says.

"That's not something you can just wish away…"

"It's not something you can change either. I'm not asking you to forget. I'm asking to realize that you're here now and that your past is your past."

"I know you're right, but…"

"No buts," She says, nuzzling my neck, "Cuddles."

"Fine, it's your birthday after all."

"Turn the heat on."

I flip on Yang's semblance as instructed, the heat radiating out into the room.

"I believe I promised I would make you a cup of hot chocolate."

"Yes, you did, but have someone else go get the stuff. I want to cuddle some more."

"Let me text Blake real quick and get her to stop by the cafeteria."

I reach over and grab my scroll from its charger and notice there was a message from Ozpin, " _Ironwood has requested to see you for debriefing. I know it's Miss Rose's birthday and you would prefer to be with her, but the general is being quite insistent._ "

I message back, " _I will only come if he agrees to let Team RWBY go out today. I had somewhere special I wanted to take Ruby for her birthday, and I can't say I was pleased when she told me they were grounded._ "

I send Blake a quick note, " _Do you mind picking up hot chocolate ingredients? I promised Ruby a cup today, but she's insisting I cuddle._ "

" _Sounds like something her sister would do,_ " She replies, " _I can stop by after I get done with my run._ "

" _Thank, you're the best._ " I reply, setting my scroll down.

"What did she say?"

"She'll get the ingredients on the way back from her run. Ozpin messaged me, apparently Ironwood wants to see me."

"You're not going right?"

"I said I will go on one condition, if he lets Team RWBY out for the day."

She looks up at me, "You're willing to get chewed out by Ironwood so the team can go out today?"

"Of course."

"You're the best."

My scroll buzzes, " _He agrees to your terms on the condition you arrive as soon as possible._ "

I show Ruby the message, "I'll make your hot chocolate when I get back." I say, standing and stretching.

"Have fun." She says sarcastically.

"Don't worry. I intend to fuck with Ironwood as much as possible while I'm there." I say, pulling on my shirt.

"Your wings aren't tied up." She comments.

"I'll cover them with my aura."

"How come you don't do that all the time?"

"If I forget and drop the cloak, I could have issues."

"Isn't it the same with your ears?"

"I guess that's true, but the ears people understand. The wings people want in a trophy case."

"Not everyone is like that."

"I just remember the ones who were." I say, sliding into my cloak.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain when I get back if you still want to know," I say as I open the door, "Tell the team to be ready to go out."

"Where would we be going?"

"Somewhere in Vale, a place you've been before. I'll be back as soon as I can be." I say, blowing her a kiss.

* * *

I take the long route to Ozpin's office through Beacon's many courtyards. It seems like fall is coming to an early end with how cold the weather was getting, and how the trees were nearly completely barren. The breeze rolling through made the scene even more surreal with leaves dancing around the landscape. I hear the distinct crunching of leaves behind me as I approach the entrance to the administration wing. I open the door and steal a quick glance back. No one was behind me, but a small bird sat in the branches of one of the trees bordering the courtyard. The branch it was sitting on was drooping almost as if the bird weighed a lot more than it looked. I tilt my head to the side and stare at it. It turns and flies off, and I continue on my way, slightly intrigued by the peculiar bird. The door to Ozpin's office was partially open, which made me think they'd been waiting for longer than they'd originally hoped for. I knock for the sake of courtesy, "Come in." Ozpin responds. The general is standing beside Ozpin's desk, his arms crossed and face covered in a grimace.

"Take a seat." Ozpin offers, motioning to a chair in front of his desk.

"I'll stand if it's all the same to you."

"I know you're annoyed Sierra, but…" Ozpin continues.

"I'm here to be debriefed by the General and nothing more, headmaster." I say, taking a more serious and forceful tone.

"I want to know every single detail of what occurred during Team RWBY's unauthorized excursion last night." The general orders.

"I was sent to investigate a White Fang rally in disguise," I say, dropping the cloak on my ears to make it seem like I made them with my aura, "Roman remembered my face from the fight we had at the docks, and went after me and Sun. After escaping the warehouse the rally was being held in, we were running from Torchwick and a dropship he had called in as reinforcement. I went to stop the dropship, while Team RWBY engaged Roman. They had left someone to guard the dropship who I quickly engaged in combat. I managed to incapacitate the foe and force the dropship into a crash landing. I went back to ensure the enemy had been killed in the crash. I was promptly hit on the back of the head and knocked out."

"Why didn't either attacker kill you?"

"I'm not sure."

"How was it that you managed to survive the crash?"

"I blinked to the ground away from the point of impact."

"What was the criminal protecting on the dropship?"

"A second prototype Paladin, identical to the one Team RWBY encountered and destroyed."

"Did the rally give you any information as to how Torchwick acquired the Paladin?"

"He said he received them from his boss, which I found quite odd considering that your authorization is required to even ship the Paladins, let alone create new ones."

"There was a shipment hijacked several months ago, two of the prototypes were the only missing cargo, but that's good news knowing they aren't going to be used against our troops." He says, staring out the window at the airship fleet surrounding Beacon.

"You do care for your troops, don't you?"

"I do. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye Grey, but it is clear that we have a common enemy and that enemy will stop at nothing to see the peace humanity has built destroyed."

"We haven't built peace General, we've simply avoided conflict, and now that tactic is catching up with us. Ruby already told you what my role was in the excursion last night didn't she? I told her the same story when she asked last night."

Ironwood nods, "You called me here to ask for my help?" I say, taking my best guess.

"It wasn't my first choice, but Ozpin convinced me it was the correct course of action."

"Ozpin...I can't…"

"You can't work with him? Or won't?"

"My father…"

"You are not your father. I'm asking you to keep the promise I know you made to yourself, to avenge your mother."

"What?"

He and Ironwood share a glance, "There has been a strong suspicion since your mother's death that the beowolves that attacked you and your mother weren't there by accident."

"You're lying…" I growl, my instincts telling me to pull my mother's swords.

"Do you know what happened during the week you shut yourself off after your mother's death?"

I shake my head no, "Your father went and killed every Grimm within a hundred mile radius of your home." Ozpin pulls a small photo from his desk, "Several of them had this tattoo," The picture showed a dead beowolf moments from disappearing with a small insignia on its side, "I'm assuming your father didn't tell you?"

"I'm sure he had his…"

"Tell me something about your mother I don't know." Ozpin interrupts.

I twitch, "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I want to see how much your father kept from you."

I rack my brain, trying to think of something, but nothing came to me, "I don't think there's anything you wouldn't know."

"Do you know where she was born?"

"Yes, Underwood in Vacuo."

"Then not only did they not tell you much, they lied on what they did tell you."

"They...lied?"

"Your mother was born in Vacuo, but definitely not in Underwood. I never got a straight answer from either of your parents on the subject, but they all but told me your mother was not born there."

"So...everything I know about my mom is a lie?"

"I'm afraid so. Though I think it was for your own protection…"

"They should have let me decide what was for my own protection!" I yell, slamming my fists down on his desk and letting my aura flare.

"Sierra calm…"

"Calm down! Calm down!? How would you react if everything you knew about your own mother was a lie? That your own family lied to you? And that the only family you had left decided to hold that from you for years!?"

"Sierra, the point of telling you was to earn your trust. Ironwood and I have reason to believe Roman's boss is the one who planned your mother's death."

"What would someone have to gain from my mother's death? She was a huntress...she helped people." I say, tears forming in my eyes.

"There's no way for us to know without any knowledge on your mother's heritage, which is what the General and I want you to do."

"I'm offering you a position as a fully functioning agent of the Atlesian Secret Service," Ironwood says, extending a badge with my name and information on the front, "You would have access to everything the Atlesian military has to offer, including police records, military weaponry, and full authorization to take people into military custody."

"You want me to track down Roman's boss?" I say, wiping the tears away.

"Not at this time," Ironwood responds, "Right now, we would like to see how much you can find out about your mother, which could lead us to Roman's boss."

"What's the catch? There's no way you're giving me all this for some information you could easily find yourself. What do you get out of this?"

"It would be mandated that you serve Atlas and Vale in times of crisis, or if the military calls you to arms."

"I would have to leave Beacon, my team, and my girlfriend whenever you want an attack dog with a hard bite? No thanks…" I say, turning to leave.

"You want to find your siblings don't you?" Ironwood questions.

I stop, "How would me helping you get me any closer to finding them?"

"I can have a team looking for leads around the clock until both are located."

I open the door, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer."

Ozpin stands, "I can't accept that answer." He says, before I close the door.

"What are you implying?" I ask.

"Sierra, if you do not accept the General's offer, I'm afraid I would have no choice but to let you go from being a teacher at the academy."

" _Only a teacher can get April and Levi a recommendation. I...have to take the deal._ "

I chuckle, "Even my own uncle wants me to become a dog of the military. I've heard quite a bit about your "Secret Service" General, and I assure you none of it has been pleasant. Your trainees don't become huntsman and huntresses; they become human weapons for your military. I don't intend to become one of them," I say, striding over and snatching the id from the General's hands, "I'm not your dog, and I'm only taking this so I can help my family, living and dead. Before I go, Ozpin…" I say, locking eyes with him, "I want two letters of acceptance signed and sealed by you before the end of the week."

He goes to say something, but I interrupt, "Their names are April and Levi Bradley, both are fully qualified and their tuition would be paid for out of my paycheck."

"Sierra, I didn't mean to…" He starts.

"You can call me Miss Grey from now on Headmaster. I'm aware you didn't mean to threaten me, but you did and you know I hold grudges. Goodbye Headmaster, good day General." I say, sliding out of the office.

* * *

**Third Person (Ozpin P.O.V)**

"She's willing to work with you…" Ozpin says, taking a long sip from his coffee mug as the door shuts.

"I had my doubts as to whether we could convince her or not."

"Now that you've lost me my niece's trust and made her angry with me, you'd better have a plan."

"My plan is to find and capture Roman Torchwick, and have your niece make him talk."

"Torchwick will not come easy, and it's clear he isn't anywhere close to the top of the food chain. Nor is he the one who orchestrated Angel's death."

"We don't have a choice. He is the only one who has poked his head out of the shadows, and it's not like we can stall forever. Do you really think we can afford to lose one of the only leads we have?"

"With the forces at play, no." Ozpin says, taking a large sip of his drink, "We cannot allow for the power we protect to fall into enemy hands. Has Amber's condition improved?"

"No, she is in the same vegetative state. The measure I suggested…"

"Would risk the life of whoever we chose, and I have no intention of risking the life of one of my students."

"But by taking no action, you're risking the lives of all your students."

"Beacon's walls will protect them, but the residents of Vale will pay the price."

"If there were to be a full scale attack…"

"Casualties would be the only thing certain."

"Your niece could…"

"I will not send her to the front lines, no matter how bad the situation is."

"You won't have to send her Ozpin. The streets of Vale will be the front lines."

"Then we must ensure that doesn't happen," Ozpin says, swiping his finger across the monitor in his desk, "I'm sending several second and third year teams out on missions to clear out as many Grimm in the surrounding territories as possible."

"That won't be enough Ozpin!" Ironwood says, slamming his fist on Ozpin's desk. "This," He says, motioning to fleet outside, "was the minimum I could have brought to combat the enemy we face."

"No, you could have brought nothing. Displays of power like this will only show that we don't know what we're up against. The only thing they fear is true power…"

"Like your niece at the docks?"

"Sierra's display wasn't a show of power, it was a show of just how desperate we are. A child is the strongest among us, just as if we had one of the maidens on our side."

"Would your niece take on the mantle?"

"She's already pushing the limits of aura connectivity with her ascension ability, adding on another connection would be guaranteed to drive her insane if not kill her."

"She would be more than willing to take the risk if it ensured humanity's safety."

"We would lose two assets if she died in the process. Our best chance is to spread the power between as many individuals as possible. It would be better if they were on a team."

"Then Miss Rose would be the most logical candidate, given their relationship."

"I would say yes if Miss Rose's safety was assured, but if the procedure were to fail or harm Miss Rose, we would still lose two assets. I say we bide what little time we have left to find a better candidate."

"If you see that as our best option, then so be it."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

I shut the door to Ozpin's office, and let out a sigh of relief.

" _That was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be._ "

"Becoming a dog of the Atlesian military under the threat of losing your job isn't bad?"

" _The worst that could have happened is them taking me away from Ruby._ "

"You love her don't you?"

" _I...do. She's all I have left._ "

"Sierra, it's plain as day that we're on the brink of war, so what happens if Ruby doesn't make it through?"

" _Then it won't matter because I would have already died protecting her. I intend to keep my promise to Yang, Ruby will be happy and safe until my last breath leaves me._ "

He goes silent, and I decide to walk back through the second and third year dorms. I turn down the hallway to see bags strewn outside several of the rooms, " _What's going on?_ "

I see Team CRFY's door is open, and peek in, "Hey, anybody home?"

"Hey Sierra!" Coco yells out from the bathroom.

"Why are so many teams packing?"

"Ozpin has sent out an all call for available second and third year teams. Apparently, the Grimm are being feisty."

"When will you be back?"

"Not sure. Ozpin's message was kind of vague."

" _Ozpin isn't one for a vague message...unless he's trying to hide something._ "

"Ok, I'll finish your training when you get back. I have a favor to ask Coco…"

She peeks out of the bathroom and pushes her glasses down her nose, "What do you need?"

My face is bright red and I take a special interest in my shoes as I ask, "Do you have any...lingerie that would fit me?"

She looks me over, "I'm assuming it's a special occasion?"

I nod, "I think I have a set of my sister's that got put into my bags by mistake. You look around her size, so they might fit you and if not I can tell you some good places to shop." She tells me as she starts to fish around in her bags.

"I don't really have time to go shopping that's why I asked. We're going out for something around lunchtime, then we're coming back for the party, then…"

"Gotcha, here," She says, handing me a small bag, "I wouldn't try them on until you get somewhere private."

"I feel like that's a given." I say, giving her a small smile.

"I don't think I've seen you nervous like this before."

"I've faced down a thousand beowolves and been less nervous than I am now." I admit.

"You'll be okay." She says, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Ruby isn't going to suddenly hate you because you're not good in bed."

"I just...don't want to let her down."

"I doubt she'll be let down her first time. It is her first time right?"

"Yeah, it will be my first time too."

"Then you're both going into something you have no idea about, which means neither of you can be disappointed."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Oh one thing," She says, walking over and inspecting my hands, "Good, your nails are trimmed."

I think about why she would ask that and blush again, "You get embarrassed so easily for an aura combat instructor."

"Hitting things is simple, people are not."

She laughs, "True enough."

As I leave, she punches me lightly in the shoulder, "Go get her tiger."

I stick my tongue out at her, "See you when we get back!" She calls as I go.

"You'd better! I need you out of my class!"

"It's not my fault you're a bad teacher!" She yells back in a sarcastic tone.

I smile back and wave, "Happy hunting!"

* * *

"So where are we going?" Yang asks as I walk into the dorm.

"A place…"

"Come on, tell me." Ruby whimpers, grabbing my arm.

"You'll know as soon as we go."

"Blake! Let's go!" Yang yells, hammering on the bathroom door.

"Give me a minute!" She calls back.

She comes out of the bathroom and Yang's jaw drops. Blake had cut her hair, and styled it to drape just above her shoulders.

"Blake…" Yang breathes.

"I thought you wanted me to hurry up." She says, a giant smirk on her face.

"It looks nice Blake, and I thought Yang would like it." I say.

"You told her how to do this?"

"No, I showed her how." I say, dropping the aura I had extending my hair.

Ruby's jaw drops farther than her sister's, "When did you…"

"Last night. You have no idea how hard it was to keep you from touching the aura made stuff. How do you like the first part of your birthday present?" I say, sitting next to her.

"I love it." She says, running her hands over my hair and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"How do you like your late anniversary gift Yang?" Blake asks.

"I love it, but not as much as I love you." She says, kissing Blake on the lips.

I dry heave, "Too much cute." I say, mimicking Yang's earlier comments.

"You sure?" Ruby says, cupping my face with her hands and kissing me.

The kiss stopped when Ruby ran out of breath and pulled away, "Any reason for that?" I say, almost annoyed with how sudden she had grabbed me.

I look over and see Blake and Yang in a similar state, both of them breathing heavily.

"Was this a contest between you and Yang, Ruby? See who could kiss the longest?"

She and Yang share a glance, and she nods solemnly, "I can't say I'm pleased you used me as a tool to beat your sister. I don't think I would be mad if you had said something before hand, so just give me a heads up next time."

"I'm sorry, but you know I hate losing."

"How did you even know it was a contest? Neither of you said anything."

The door opens, "How did you and Kurome know when you were trying to pick more strawberries than each other?" Weiss says as she enters.

"You look well-rested." I say, noting the lack of bags under her eyes.

"Yang gave me some advice. If I can't do anything about a situation, then I shouldn't worry about it. The tests I'm running aren't going to go any faster if I'm constantly watching them. Both of your haircuts look wonderful, though I don't think I've ever seen you with short hair Sierra."

"This is the first time I've cut my hair since leaving the Fang. I cut it short the day before I left, and haven't touched it since. I don't think I ever wore it short when I was a kid."

"I remember Kurome always had hers short."

"Just above her shoulders…" I sigh, my sister's smiling face flashing through my mind.

"You'll find them, but I think you should listen to Yang's advice too."

"You're right. It's my girlfriend's birthday after all."

"So where are we going?" Blake asks.

"We're taking an airship to Vale, then I'll lead you guys from there."

* * *

"Ok, where to?" Yang asks after we get off the ship.

I flag down a taxi, "I only have room for four miss." The cab driver explains.

"That's okay. I need you to take them to this address." I say, handing him a slip of paper. "Here's the fare." I say, handing him 25 lien.

"Sierra, how are you going to get there?" Blake asks.

I roll my eyes, "I'll find a way to get there I promise. Now get going, you don't want to be late. Also Ruby, don't tell them what the place is when you get there."

The four climb into the taxi and I wave as they go. One blink and I'm at my destination. I knock on the door and Christy answers the door, "Are they on their way?"

"Yup. Thank you for this. I owe you and Ivan big time."

"After everything you've done for us, don't you dare think you owe us anything. You can come see the decorations if you want." She says, leading the way to the dining room.

Strings of cutout paper roses line the ceiling. The tablecloth was a matching shade of red, while the cake stood as a contrast to the scene with it's white icing. Balloons float around with little party hats taped to each one.

"You guys sure know how to throw a birthday party."

"No, Izzy knows how to throw a birthday party. We just made the cake, put on the table cloth, and blew up the balloons."

"I know I said roses, but Izzy went above and beyond."

"Anything for a "friend" of her big sis."

"Can I be honest with you Christy?"

She nods, "I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to stop by like this. It's dangerous for me to be around you and your family because of the amount of people who want me dead."

"I doubt that many people want you dead."

"I just learned today my mother's death wasn't normal Grimm. They were sent by someone to kill my mother. Someone wanted her dead, and I've been tasked with figuring out why." I say, showing her my SS badge.

"You're not concerned someone is going to kill you. You're concerned they will find out what Ivan has done for a living."

I solemnly nod, "Rumor has it new recruits to the service are tailed to ensure their loyalty to the cause. I don't want the Atlesian military catching wind of a potential threat in the form of a part-time mercenary. His dealings with Roman would make him a prime target of investigation."

"We'll keep our heads down, but I suspect that Izzy won't be too happy about it."

"I'll make it up to her when it's all over. Where is she by the way?"

I hear a loud shushing noise from around the corner and see Izzy poking her head out, "We're going to surprise your friend." She whispers.

"Is your dad back there too?"

A thumbs up appears above her head and Izzy giggles, "Stop daddy, you're gonna give us away."

"She's not even…" He starts.

The doorbell rings, and I slide around the corner with Izzy and Ivan.

Christy answers the door, "Hi Ruby, what brings you by?"

"Sierra had a taxi driver bring us here. She didn't happen to leave anything for me did she?"

"I think she may have talked with Ivan a couple days ago, but you four can come in while I ask him."

I hear the four of them step into the room, "Come stand in the dining room, there's much more space."

I motion to Izzy and Ivan and count down from five on my fingers.

"What…" I hear Ruby say.

The three of us jump out, "Surprise! Happy birthday Ruby!"

Ruby has her hand over her mouth, "This is…incredible."

"Sierra, we were already going to have a party for Ruby." Weiss groans.

"She can have more than one. Besides, it gave me the chance to introduce you guys. Yang, Blake, Weiss meet the rest of the Parker family. You've met Ivan," I say as he waves, "This is Christy and their daughter Isabelle, but she goes by Izzy."

Izzy was looking at Blake with a strange look on her face, "Izzy, what's up?" I ask her.

"Why does she cover up her ears?"

Blake backs up a bit, "How did you know that I'm a Faunus?"

"Your smell," She says, sniffing the air a bit, "you don't smell human."

I get down on her level, "There are a lot of people who don't like the Faunus, and Blake wants to stay away from them."

"Why don't people like us?"

"Some are afraid of people who are different. We just happen to be very different."

"People at school say my ears are cool, do yours look funny?" She asks Blake.

"No. I guess I should take the bow off more often." She chuckles, pulling the ribbon from her ears.

"You're a kitty!" Izzy says, her eyes sparkling, "Your ears look so cool!"

"Thank you." Blake says, a slight blush coating her cheeks.

"You look like you're good at hide and seek." Izzy says.

"I might be." Blake responds, "Do you want to play?"

She nods, "You two wanna play too?" She says, looking to Weiss and Yang.

"Sure." They both reply.

"Ok. Kitty gets to seek first, the rest of us hide." She says, running off.

Weiss and Yang follow suit, their footsteps trailing up the stairs.

I turn to Blake, "Have fun finding that hyperactive ball of fur."

"You're not helping?"

"In a bit, there's a cake that's going to go bad." I say with a grin.

I walk over to Ruby and Ivan, who had been chatting about something while I was talking with Izzy.

"What you two talking about?"

"She asked me about the first time I met you. You can still remember it too right? It was after one of your first missions, and they were sending you on a collection assignment I had to watch you complete. You never told me what happened on that mission."

"Yeah, but it's hard to forget a target that important. Four lives were on the line and I couldn't afford to fuck up. I remember my hands shaking while holding that rifle, knowing that even at the best of times, a life was going to be snuffed out."

Ruby looked shocked, but Ivan had this odd, calm expression, "Ruby told me that you said you didn't remember how many people you killed, but you and I both know that's a lie. A lie that you've carried since you got out of that hell. You remember every face, every last word, and every last breath. Instead of talking through them, you hid them away. You hoped the nightmares wouldn't plague you forever, but I can tell you they don't go away, not without accepting what you've done."

"78."

"What?"

"You asked how many people I've killed. It's 78." I tell them as the tears begin to fall. "It's just like you said I remember each one, every face, every last word, and every last breath. Some I watched from a distance, but a good majority I killed with the swords I still wield. Whenever I did it up-close, listening to the final breath destroyed me, and the researchers knew it. After every mission, they would take the audio from my earpiece and play the target's last breath over and over again. They wanted me to know the target was dead and that I was the one who had done it. I cannot forgive myself for what I've done, and I intend to keep this pain with me for as long as I live. That way I won't forget them, the pain will keep each face fresh in my mind."

Ivan raises his hand and slaps me across the face, "Do you know how selfish that is?!"

I just gape at him, my hand held over my cheek where he slapped me, "You have people who care about you." He says, motioning to the stairs my teammates had just gone up. "You have someone who loves you." His hand motioning to Ruby. "But you're too self centered to realize that you're tearing yourself apart! There's no way in hell you're sleeping through those nightmares, no matter who's with you. You're lying to yourself and the ones you care about every time you say "I'm alright." because you're not. Look Ruby in the eyes right now and say I'm alright."

I look at her, and see the tears running down her face, "You promised you'd tell me the truth…" Is all she has to say.

"Ruby, I'm...I'm…" I try to finish, but I fall to my knees. "I'm broken." I say, my voice hollow.

"Good, now list their names."

"I don't think that's necessary…" Ruby says.

"Jameson, Peter, Cinthia, Roseline, Albert, Bruce, Clark…"

I list all 78 names, and I look up to see my entire team and the whole Parker family looking down at me.

"Are you okay sis?" Izzy asks.

I fall to the floor on my side and start bawling into the carpet.

**Ruby P.O.V**

"Christy, take Izzy to her room." Ivan says, a sad look in his eyes.

Christy picks Izzy up under her arms, "No Mamma, I wanna make sure sis is okay."

" _She lied to me…_ " Is the only thought running through my head.

"She thought it would be better if she didn't tell you." Ivan says, almost reading my thoughts. "In a way, it would be. You wouldn't have to deal with her problems."

"I want her to feel better, not wallow in her past."

"She didn't want to burden you with her problems Ruby. I was the same way until Christy convinced me to talk through everything. You'll have to do the same for Sierra." He says, looking at the shivering form on the floor.

I lean down and brush the hair away from her face, "Even when you're crying, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

She whimpers and the tears continue to fall, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She chokes a bit and hiccups, "No."

"Do you want a piece of cake?"

She doesn't respond and I let Ivan hand me a plate, "I know you want some, now open up."

A small crease appears at the edge of her mouth, just enough for me to pop a bite through. The tears stop flowing and I wipe the area around her eyes with a napkin.

"A monster like me doesn't deserve you." She whimpers

"You're not a monster. You're the one I love and that list of names doesn't change that. You want to go home?"

She nods yes, "You should say goodbye before we go. Izzy's worried about you."

"Tell her I'm…" She starts before breaking down again.

" _She was going to say alright…_ "

"Ruby, Sierra needs professional help." Weiss says.

"From what she's told me, she tried professional help."

"Tried?"

"They gave her some medication. She said it made the nightmares worse, so she stopped taking it and cut short her sessions. I'm not going to force her to go see a doctor if she doesn't think it will help her. She has to accept the problem is too much for her to handle."

"Which she will never do! We all know that. Yang, Blake back me up here."

"Rubes, I have to agree with Weiss. Sierra isn't going to see getting help as an option." Yang points out.

"Do you blame her? You've seen her back and a good majority of those scars came from "doctors." She's scared of going, and I don't want to go backwards on her scars."

"I agree with Ruby." Blake interjects, "One problem at a time is the only method that is going to work here. Fight one fight at a time and you're more likely to win."

"Either way, we're going home now Sierra. You should be the one to tell Izzy that you're okay."

She pushes herself on one arm, and then does a front flip into a standing position.

"Okay."

**Sierra P.O.V**

I walk past my team and quickly scale the stairs. I knock lightly on the door and Christy opens it, "Are you okay?" She asks.

I wipe some tears from my face, "If I'm honest, no, but I'm going to get better. I'm here to say bye."

She opens the door all the way. Izzy rushes over and hugs my waist, "You're okay now right?"

"Better than I've been in a long time, but I'm not going to be able to stop by for a while." I say, patting her ears.

"You'll come for Lauren's birthday right?" She says, her ear perked up.

"I'm going to be pretty busy, but I'll try ok?"

She nods, "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I'm sorry I didn't get to play hide and seek this time."

"It's fine, just feel better okay."

" _I wish it was that easy…_ "

I wave and step out of the room to find myself face to face with my girlfriend, "Hi."

"What did you mean by you're not going to be able to stop by again?"

"I'll explain on the way home." I say, pushing past her to get down the stairs.

"No, you're going to explain now."

I stop and pull out my SS badge, "Ivan would be a prime target of investigation. I'm not risking them finding out about his contact with Roman."

"When did this happen?"

"During my meeting with the general and Ozpin. It was this or be fired from teaching. April needs my recommendation to come to Beacon, so I didn't really have much of a choice."

"Why would the general offer you a position so quickly?"

I flare my aura a bit, "Take a guess."

"You're required to serve the military aren't you?"

I nod, "Let's go home."

I walk down the stairs and Ivan is waiting there for me. I go to explain why I can't be around, but he just holds up his hand, "I heard what you said to Christy earlier. We'll keep our heads down."

Ruby jumps down the last couple stairs and tries to pull me along, but Ivan stops her, "Let me talk to her real quick."

Ruby goes and Ivan puts his hand on my shoulder, "I know you're in pain, trust me I've been there. The only way I know for you to feel better is to let someone in and talk about what you've done and what's been done to you."

I give him a hug, "Thanks."

"No problem. Just make sure you're around for my daughter's second birthday."

"I'll try, but no promises."

"Oh I almost forgot." He says, running into his room. "Here's our family's birthday present for Ruby."

He hands me the bag and I peer inside. It was a new rifle scope, and the exact model Ruby had put on her list.

"How did you…"

He pulls a slip of paper out of his back pocket, "Old habits die hard."

I look at the slip, and it was the list I had written for possible gifts.

"When did you…"

"When you came by to plan this whole thing. We couldn't throw her a party without getting her a gift."

"I'm positive she'll love it."

"Get going. Your team is waiting on you outside."

I start to walk toward the door before turning back to him, "I'm sorry for ruining this whole thing."

"I won't accept your apology unless you take my advice. There's not a doubt in my mind that Ruby would listen and help you. All you have to do is take the first step."

"Okay." I say, letting myself out.

"You idiot!" Is all I hear before Ruby slaps me in the face. "You lied to me! You said you were alright! You said you didn't remember! Why would you lie to me like that!?"

"Because I didn't want to admit I was a failure… I tried so many things to sort myself out, but none of them worked. I failed, just like I do every time." I say, sitting down on the Parker's front steps.

"That's no reason to lie to my sister!"

"Says the one lying to Blake about your late night "runs"!" I yell, putting my hand over my mouth the instant I let it slip.

"What is she talking about Yang?" Blake asks, concerned.

Yang's eyes go red, she pushes past Ruby, and grabs my collar, "How fucking dare you! You promised to tell no one!"

I try to breathe and say something, but Yang's grip is cutting off my windpipe.

"Yang! Let her go! She can't breathe!" Ruby wails, trying to get her sister to release her grip.

Yang lets go, I drop to the ground and start sucking in air, "Yang tell me what's going on!" Blake cries.

Yang doesn't say anything, and Blake turns to me, "What were you talking about?"

"Yang's been going out at night and fighting Grimm."

"What?!" Blake and Ruby simultaneously yell.

"I got up one night after a nightmare and heard your door open. I poked my head out and saw Yang with Ember Celica on sneaking around. I threw on some clothes, strapped my swords to my back, and went out after her. She was fighting at least fifteen beowolves by herself in the dark, so I jumped from where I was watching and took down a few. She didn't want you guys to be worried about her, so she asked me to keep it secret."

"Why Yang?" Blake pleads.

"I had a nightmare ok! We were fighting Torchwick and that multicolored bitch from before. Then next thing I know, you're on the ground bleeding out. You asked me why I wasn't strong enough to save you and then you...died in my arms. I can't let that happen…I can't lose you."

"I can't believe you wouldn't tell us about something like that!" Blake yells at me.

"What was I supposed to say!? Your girlfriend goes on nightly Grimm culls?"

We go back and forth for a second, "Will you two shut the fuck up!" Weiss screams at the top of her lungs.

"Your arguments are stupid! You're all in relationships, now act like it. Talk to each other! If you're bothered by a nightmare about losing Blake, then talk to Blake about it. If you're holding on to some past stuff Sierra, talk to Ruby about it. If I have an issue, I call Winter about it. I'm not fortunate enough to have someone right next to me that I can talk to about personal stuff, but you four do! Now, let's go home and let Ruby open her presents." Weiss says, opening her scroll to call for a taxi.

"I can't say I saw that one coming, least of all from Weiss." Yang says, her eyes their normal lilac again.

"I'm sorry for letting that slip Yang, but you can't give advice if you're not willing to use it yourself. If Ruby would help me, I'll take the day off tomorrow and start doing something about my...problems."

"If Blake would help me, I'll train against something less likely to kill me if I mess up."

A taxi pull up on the curb, "Good, now let's go." Ruby says, letting everyone pile into the taxi.

* * *

"Gift opening time sis!" Yang yells upon our arrival to the my dorm.

"I'm so excited!" Ruby yelps, looking around at the various parcels strewn around the room, "When did you get time to do this?"

"I didn't. CRFY helped me on that one before they left, and they promised not to peak." I say, putting a small pot on my stove.

"I guess I'll start...here!" She says, grabbing a small box from my worktable.

She gasps as she opens it and pulls out the necklace I made her, "It's beautiful!"

"Not as beautiful as you." I say, kissing her on the cheek.

"How much did this cost?" She asks, looking it over.

"A finger." I say, showing her my other arm's lack of exterior metal on the thumb.

"You made this?"

"This other arm is made up of a good amount of silver, so I used it for a custom necklace."

"Thank you."

"Can I pick the next one?" I ask her.

"Sure."

I hand her the bag Ivan gave me, "This is from the Parker's."

She pulls out the tissue paper and grabs the scope, "This is the one I wanted! I wish I could say thank you."

"I'll let you call later, but presents first."

"Here's one from me and Blakey." Yang says, handing her a small package.

She tears open the wrapping paper and squeals, "The new Achieve Men album! Is this signed?"

Yang grins, "Yep. Your big sis has some connections."

She runs over and hugs them both, "Thank you both so much!"

"You're welcome." Blake says, a huge grin covering her face.

"Here's mine Ruby." Weiss says, handing her a small box.

Ruby opens it and gasps, "Weiss...you didn't…"

I peek over her shoulder and see a set of keys…

"Weiss, did you get my girlfriend a car?" I scold her, my hands on my hips.

"Maybe… You didn't set a price cap this time, so I took advantage of it. I didn't think you'd have anywhere to store it at Beacon, so it's at my house in Atlas until we find you a place to put it."

Ruby practically launched herself at Weiss, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

"You're my partner, and my best friend, I had to get you something special."

"I can't wait to get it home, Dad will freak!" Ruby says, jumping in place.

"You've still got a couple presents to open before we see about getting your car brought down." Yang says, clearly shocked with the size of Weiss' purchase.

"Ok, let's open this one…" She says, grabbing a box from the bed, "Who's this one from?"

"It's not one of mine, CRFY's is over there, so I'm not sure."

She opens it and a small card sits on top of the tissue paper, " _Your father sent this for you, and Miss Scarlatina was kind enough to fetch it from Vale's Post Office. Give her special thanks next time you see her. -Headmaster Ozpin._

"It's from dad." Ruby says, pulling out the tissue paper. Inside there was a memory card, a cute blouse/t-shirt combo, and a very nice camera.

"I don't know how to see what's on this." She says, holding up the card.

"Here, my laptop has a reader in it." I say, pulling the device out from under the bed.

There was only one video on the card, so I opened it and sat the device in Ruby's lap.

"Hey sweetie, happy sixteenth birthday! I'm sorry I couldn't make it by Beacon, but I will be there for the tournament. Your sister said you had taken an interest in photography and artwork thanks to your girlfriend, so I got you something to go along with that. I can't say I was pleased to find out about your relationship from your sister, but as long as you're happy and this girl has passed the Yang test, it's fine with me. Though she will have to prove herself when I stop by for the tournament. I love you both, and hope to see you soon!" The video cuts for a second, then resumes. "P.S. I'll be sending you two a package in the next couple of weeks. It's important you go get it, so don't blow it off Yang. Love you both, bye."

Ruby's cheeks were bright red, "I can't believe you told Dad I was dating someone."

"I mean, me dating someone isn't exactly a shocker is it?"

"It is when you go steady with someone for more than a week." Ruby retorts.

"You got into photography because of me?" I ask.

"Yeah. After you drew me so realistically, I started doing some sketching and taking some basic photos with my scroll. I had no idea the skill it took for you to do something like that in the time frame you had."

"I've had a lot of practice drawing, though I bet money you're a better photographer than me. That was never a particular skill of mine."

"Ok. I guess I'll open CRFY's next."

She grabs the long box and tears it open, "They got me a pair of ice skates." She says, almost questioningly.

"What does the note say?"

"It says "We know you'll be taking a few trips to Atlas so we thought you could use a pair. They should also help when you're around the Ice Queen."

All of us except Weiss burst out laughing, "Hey! That's not funny." Weiss says, pouting with a smile covering her face.

"That's priceless!" Yang chuckles.

"Whoever came up with that passes my class the next time I see them!" I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"I guess I need to learn how to ice skate."

"You've never ice skated before?" I ask her.

"Patch doesn't get a lot of cold weather, so there wasn't really a good time to try."

"I'll teach you whenever you want."

"Ok, so who are these last two from? They look the same size."

"Both are from me." I say, nervous about her reaction.

She reaches for the one farther up the bed, but I grab her arm, "You should open the other one first, just a thought."

She pulls back and grabs the rectangular box closest to her. Tearing it open, she gasps as she pulls out my painting of Xiao Long/Rose family, the entire group smiling at the painter who had only met two of the people depicted. "This is…" Ruby says, clearly at a loss for words.

"Beautiful." Yang finishes the sentence, slightly teary eyed looking at my image of Summer.

"You haven't opened the second one yet." I say, proud of my work.

She reaches back and grabs the second gift. There is an envelope taped to the front, which she tears off and opens.

"Ruby Rose," she reads, "There are no words to describe how beautiful she is, or how special she is, or how much I love her. Putting these things into words would be to define them, to quantify them, and to limit them. There would be a beginning and an end. There is no definition fitting, nor any limit, nor beginning or end to her beauty, or to how special she is, or how much I love her. The only rose I ever want or need." She finishes.

She turns to me, throws her arms around my neck, and brings me into a deep kiss.

"Whoa, save that for later sis." Yang says, jokingly, "You haven't even opened the gift yet."

She lets me go and with tears in her eyes, rips open the second gift, "Oh…" She says, pulling the frame from the wrapping paper.

The rest of the team gathers around and looks at the second painting I had done. It was a picture of all of us in front of Beacon's shining tower. Ruby standing at the center, I'm to her right holding up a peace sign and smiling, Weiss is off to her left, Myrtenaster held at her side. Yang is beside me, her usual grin on her face. Blake is sitting on me and Yang's shoulders, her face held in a smile she only uses when she is alone with Yang.

"What does Ceci est ma maison, cela est ma famille mean?" Ruby asks, reading the title plaque embedded in the picture frame.

"This is my home, this is my family." Weiss translates.

"This goes up in the dorm immediately, all in favor?" Yang says, instantly throwing up her hand.

Everyone else follows suit and Yang hefts the painting onto her shoulder, "Here, Blake, Weiss come help me decide where to put this." Yang says, standing at the door. She winks at me and the three walk over to their dorm.

"I wonder why she needed both of them to…" She starts before realizing what was going on, "We're alone…"

"Yes," I say with a sigh, "but we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

She takes a deep breath, "Let me take a shower first." She says, taking a towel and her pajamas into the bathroom.

I lay down on the bed and grab Ninjas of Love from its resting place on my floor.

" _Guess I might as well pick up a few pointers._ "

I start reading and one of the first stories involved a bath house. " _What more can you ask for,"_ The line read, " _You can skip the foreplay and get straight to the good part._ "

My face was was as red as my girlfriend's namesake as I closed the book after reading a couple more lines. I sat there for a minute, trying to decide whether to take the book's suggestion. " _That doesn't give me much time to wear that kimono or the lingerie…"_

"Would you like a suggestion?" James says, out of the blue.

" _How fucking dare you! I was about to…_ "

"Yes, and I wasn't going to watch. I'm not a creep, but here's some advice. Start in the shower, get you both riled up, then have some foreplay."

" _Fine, but you're still creepy as hell for being anywhere near here right now._ "

"I would be stuck if you died of embarrassment, so get a move on."

I get off the bed and slide out of my clothes, " _I swear to God if either of those two try and watch…_ "

As quietly as I can, I grab a wrench from my workstation and remove my arm. " _Ok, here we go…_ "

* * *

 

**WARNING: SMUT FOLLOWS (Skip if that's not your thing)**

* * *

 

I slide open the bathroom door and creep over to the shower. Ruby was humming an Achieve Men song as I pull back the curtain. She jumps a bit and covers her chest and lap with her hands, "Sierra!"

I draw the curtain closed behind me and stand underneath the flow, "What? I needed a shower and thought we could save some water."

She gives me a blank look, "Well, if that's all you're here for, I don't have to uncover myself."

"Come on, I'm beyond self-conscious about my body and I'm not covering myself."

I reach over and grab the arm covering her chest, "Is this okay?"

She doesn't say anything, but she nods in approval. I gently push her arm down to her side, and move to the one covering her lap. I only lightly pull before she trails her other hand to her side, leaving both of us fully exposed. I tilt my head to the side, and kiss her as she slides her arms around my neck. I let my hand roam, tenderly caressing my girlfriend's curves. She does the same, her hands passing over the damp fur that lines my wings. We part to catch our breaths, but I can't help the raw desire coursing through my veins as I look at her flushed cheeks. Her eyes tell me she's feeling the same thing. I pin her to the wall with her hands above her head, and start kissing her neck. She moans as I leave a hickey just below her neck.

"My turn…" She whispers in my ear.

She sweeps her leg around, taking mine out from under me. Catching me, she gently lowers the two of us to the floor. We lie there, our tongues locked together as the water runs over Ruby and onto me.

"Do you want to dry off and take this to the bed?" I ask.

"Sure." She says, clearly nervous.

"It's ok. This is my first time too."

"Have you a least...done yourself?"

"No," I say, my blush matching Ruby's highlights, "all of this is uncharted territory for me. I know how, but I've never tried."

"Now I'm even more nervous…" She says.

"Don't be." I say, kissing her cheek, "I'll go dry off first so you can take an actual shower."

I let myself out of the bathroom, and use Yang's semblance to dry off, " _That has to be the most useful thing ever._ "

My eyes glimpse the bag with the lingerie and Blake's kimono, which reminded me of the extra thing Blake had given me. I take out the small amount of catnip, and take a long sniff. Instantly, I feel more relaxed, and slip a small piece into my mouth.  _"Ok, Blake's gonna have to give me some more of this._ " The lingerie fits me(barely), and I slide the kimono on over it.

I get into bed and bring the blanket up to cover me. Ruby comes out of the bathroom, her underwear and bra hastily thrown on.

"You tired already?" She taunts when she sees me bundled up.

She pulls back the blanket as I smirk, her face was beyond priceless, "No, I just thought you were supposed to unwrap your birthday presents."

She kisses me, pinning me to the bed with her arms. She undoes the sash for the kimono, and uncovers a small amount of my stomach. With each bit of skin she reveals, she plants a kiss on my torso. "Ruby…" I whimper.

"What?" She asks as she plants another kiss just below my breasts.

"Take me…" I say, the catnip only adding to feeling burning in my veins.

Her face is bright red, "Are you sure? I've just been doing what felt right and…"

I put a finger to her lips, take one of her hands in mine, and guide it to the catch for my bra. She pops it, and I let her slip the fabric off my chest.

"You're gorgeous." She says as she plants a kiss on my breast.

"That poem described exactly how beautiful I think you are." I say, her methods making my heart race.

She groped my chest, squeezing forcefully, and she grinned as my breathing picked up its pace. While her left hand continued to massage my right breast, she began to tease the other with her mouth, only nips and small licks at first, but soon her lips found their way to a nipple, her tongue swirling around wildly.

I gulp as I watch her hands move lower as her mouth ravages my breast, one slipping into the waistband of my panties, the other rubbing circles along my inner thigh, both moving closer to my core.

"Do I need to be gentle?"

"No," I say, confidently, "I can handle it."

I feel her fingers brush my core, and I whimper as she trails up and down the opening.

"Stop teasing me…" I say as she pulls my panties down and off my ankles.

One finger slips inside me, "As you wish." She replies.

I can feel every move she makes as her finger dances around my insides. "Ruby…" I moan as she hits a sweet spot.

"Every time you say my name, I add another finger." She whispers seductively, nipping at my earlobe.

"Ruby…" I pant, desperate for more.

She adds a second finger, curls the first, and drives them both deeper inside me. She starts to slide them around, and I squeal when she hits my g-spot.

"There it is, now let's have some fun." She quips.

"Oh God!" I cry as she gets into a rhythm, thrusting in and out. It was almost as if my body had a mind of its own, my back arching to meet Ruby's fingers and pull them deeper. Her other hand reaches up and gropes my chest, while her tongue circles my stomach. All the sensations threatened to push me over the edge, I was so close, but then it stopped. I look down to ask why she had stopped when I feel a puff of warm air meet my core.

"Beg." Ruby demands.

"No. I will not…" I try to protest before I feel her tongue slide across my sex.

"I will not ask again. Beg."

"Ruby Rose, will you just fuck me already!?" I plead, not wanting to let the feeling die out.

Her tongue rips through me, bouncing along my inner walls. I moan louder than ever before as she teases my clit with her fingers. My legs clamp down on her head as she drives her tongue deeper, which she promptly holds back with her arms.

"Ruby...I'm…" I pant, as I near climax.

She stops again, "I want you to say my name when you cum." She huffs huskily into my ear. Right as I feel it coming, Ruby takes my clit and bites down on it.

"RUBY!" I cry as I let the pleasure consume me. I feel my muscles seize up, and I can't move as I ride the high of orgasm to Cloud 9 and back. When I finally regain my senses, Ruby is above me, her hands placed to either side of my head.

"Do you not want a turn?" I say, my breath in short, sporadic intervals.

"I want you to make it my turn." She says, her tongue taking my mouth by storm.

" _I don't taste half bad._ " I think as as an unfamiliar flavor coats my tongue, " _but I bet she tastes better._ "

I fight back, shoving my tongue in her mouth as she tries to keep me subdued. I put my right knee in between her thighs and use my left leg to knock hers out from under her. I grind my knee up and down, my arm roaming up to touch her breasts, and I smirk as she begins to moan. I go to take her bra off, but she squirms just out of reach, making me lean up to try and claim my prize. Ruby had different plans. As I lean up, she leans down and I thought she was going to kiss me. I close my eyes, only to find myself moaning as Ruby took one of my feline ears into her mouth. She sucked, teased, and bit gently, my leg holding her up nearly collapsed as pure bliss overtook my senses once more.

" _No!"_ I mentally kick myself, " _This is her birthday, and I want to hear her scream my name!_ "

I push her off my leg, onto her back, and suck on the exposed skin of her neck. I couldn't help but give in to the desires of the animal whose traits I had been given. The thoughts of making Ruby mine overpowered any other I had. I didn't waste time finding the clasp for her bra, I simply tore the fabric from her chest and dove in, licking and biting the sensitive flesh. Her moans fueled me, and I started to move down her torso, stopping every so often to admire her abs by kissing them. I reach her panties, "Beg." I say, repeating her request from earlier.

I can tell she's about to say no, so I start to rub her clit through the soaked cloth, "I will not ask again. Beg."

"Sierra," She whimpers, "Fuck me until I can't see straight."

"Naughty mouth, I guess I'll just have to fix that." I say, pulling her panties off. I pull her legs onto my shoulders and I take a small taste of her core. Her gasp as I press my tongue to her core for the second time makes me smile as I tease the outside, avoiding going any further. Then I feel Ruby's hands on the back of my head, forcing my tongue inside her.

"Impatient too? Now that's no fun." I say into her.

I let my hand drift to her ass, and give it a squeeze. As she bucks from the unknown contact, I lap at her core, driving my tongue until I hit something. " _Her hymen…_ "

I almost stop, but then Ruby's hand grips mine, "I want you to take it. You're my first, so it's yours." I squeeze her hand, and push as hard as I can with my tongue. She screams, and I almost stop again, "Keep going, I'm alright." She assures me. I drive through, feeling the taste of blood coat my lips. I draw back and slip a finger inside instead, the taste of blood all too familiar for me to continue. As I trace around, I let the intensity of Ruby's moans guide me around. Then she squeals as I hit her g-spot, and I decide to taunt her.

"Everytime you kiss me, I add another finger." I say, moving up beside her, leaving my hand where it lay. She hungrily peppers my face with kisses, "I only have five fingers…" I chuckle, making her groan when she realized I couldn't add anymore fingers.

"I hate you…" She says sarcastically.

"Ok then, I'll just take these fingers out…"

I go to remove them only to find both Ruby's arms covering mine, and then I feel her push my hand in, trying to pleasure herself with my hand.

I yank my arm free, "No," I growl as I reposition myself, "You asked me to fuck you and that's what I'm going to do. Since you can't be a good girl and sit still, I'm going to have to keep your hands out of the way." I say, grabbing the sash for Blake's kimono. I crawl on top of her, giving her a nice view as I do so, tie her hands together, and loop the knot around the bedpost.

"Now," I say, teasing her core, "Behave." I command as I slip one finger inside. I get into a rhythm and let Ruby do most of the work, her body arching to meet my finger as I go in and out.

"Sierra…" She says, her breath short.

"I want you to scream so loud Ozpin can hear you, understand?" I whisper huskily into her ear.

She nods and I grin as I shove three fingers into her at once, positioning myself lower for the grand finale.

I feel her insides contracting on my fingers and I lean down to her clit and suck on it as hard as I can.

" **SIERRA!** " Ruby screamed, louder than I'd ever heard her before. I keep lapping at her core, the taste sweet, but her continued moans all the sweeter. I remove my hand and clean it off myself, the panther in me satisfied by the gesture. I go to kiss Ruby, only to realized she'd passed out.

" _Nice work,_ " I mentally prided myself, " _You fucked your girlfriend unconscious on your first try._ "

I untie her hands and move them to lay at her side. I get up and clean a bit, making a mental note to apologize for destroying Ruby's bra like that. I grab all the stuff I had borrowed and put it on my desk, putting a post-it note on it to remind myself to wash them. I get a set of pajamas and pull them on, realizing my wings were still twitching from Ruby's actions. I see Ruby's pajamas lying on the bathroom counter as I prepare to climb into bed, and I look back at my naked girlfriend, " _I don't want someone to walk in with her like this…_ " I think. I move over to my closet and look to see if I have something that would fit her, and I see a nightgown that I hadn't worn since before I was kidnapped. " _My dad got this for me…"_  I recall as I pull the garment off its hanger. " _It was so big on me back then it nearly touched the floor._ " I reminisce, smiling at the memory. I take it, sit Ruby up, and slide the satin over her head. She sighs the cold fabric covers her, and I smile brushing the hair out of her face, "You look so peaceful all the time." I whisper, quoting her words from this morning. I kiss her forehead and slide into bed, wrapping my arm around her. "Good night, my little rose." I murmur, burying my face in her hair.


	21. Shattered Mind, Shattered Blade

"GREY!" Yang's voice pierced my slumber.

"What? I'm…" I yawn before getting thrown on to Yang's shoulder. "What the hell Yang?"

"We're sparring, now." She growls, "Get your gear on." She demands, dropping me on my ass.

I try and think what I did...Oh shit, I guess it's who I did in this case.

"Oh, you're mad about…" I say, pointing at Ruby.

She nods, her eyes fiery red, "Let's go."

"What did you think would happen if you left us alone on her birthday?" I say, "You even winked at me last night."

"So you did have sex with my sister?"

I stand, my eyes level with hers, "Yes."

Her hair glows with the activation of her semblance, "I won't ask again, get your gear, we're sparring."

I grab my training gear, "Fine, if you insist" I say, popping my arm back into place.

Ruby stirs, "Sierra, come back to bed." She says, sleepily.

I walk over to her, "I'll be back in a little bit, but I have to take care of something first. Go back to sleep." I murmur, kissing her forehead.

"What's going on?" She says, wiping the sleep from her eyes, "Is that…"

She says, her eyes widening when she sees the color of her sister's eyes.

"Yang I asked her to, don't…"

"No Ruby," I say, pulling on my weighted training clothes, "Yang and I are fighting. I want to prove to her that I can protect you."

"Is that what this is about Yang?"

"That's part of it, but you wouldn't understand the rest sis."

She slides out of bed, "Then explain it to me."

"This isn't something I have explain to you." She yells at her sister, "You ready?" She asks me calmly.

I pull my sheaths on, but leave my swords on my worktable, "Born ready."

She motions to the blades, "You're going to want those."

My eyes narrow, "All out?"

She nods, and I slip my blades into their sheaths, "You will never win this fight."

"If I win, you break up with my sister."

"What gives you the right to decide that?" Ruby exclaims.

"If I win, you break up with Blake. Deal?" I say, extending my hand.

"Sierra, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ruby says, placing herself between me and her sister.

"Stay out of this, if she wants me to lose the one I love, she has to be willing to do the same." I say, moving her from between us.

Yang takes a deep breath and tries to punch me, I catch her fist in my hand.

Twisting her arm behind her back, I ask, "I take it the deal's off then?"

"We're still fighting, but your relationship is not on the line." She says, and I let her go. She walks over and opens the door.

"Yang, tell me what this is about." Ruby pleads.

She stops before she leaves the door frame, "I'm worried about you dating a monster Ruby. I'm even more worried about your name being added to the 78 others."

My aura sparks, "Now you've crossed a line Yang. Being mad about what Ruby and I did is one thing, but that's a whole different ballgame." My hair floating up as my aura flares.

"This happens no where near my sister." Yang says, arming Ember Celica.

"If we're going all out, the normal training room might be a little...weak. Follow me." I say.

"Wait!" Ruby calls as the two of us walk out.

I take up a slow run, Yang following quickly behind me. I lead us through several classrooms, past the armory, and up two flights of stairs before we lose Ruby. I guide us through several of Beacon's back hallways until we'd circled to the rear of the main tower. I stop when we reach our destination. In front of us is a door branded with the words, "STAFF ONLY."

"I'm not supposed to let students in here, and there will more than likely be repercussions for both of us. You sure you still want to do this?"

Her face is a stone wall, "I'm training to kill monsters, might as well get one in early."

I type in my access code, let the two of us in, and seal the door behind us.

"Welcome to the staff dueling room Yang. One of the most state of the art combat arenas in all of Vale, and one of the strongest." I say, tapping on the metal wall with my automail. "Nothing short of a one megaton explosion could break these walls, so let's see how close we get."

I pull my blades as Yang takes her stance, "You'd better go gold. I wouldn't want to make you cry after the first hit." Yang mocks.

"I suggest you go get a tighter bra so your tits don't knock you out before I do." I scoff back.

Her hair glows and her eyes go an even darker shade of red, "Aw did I make Blondie Bimbo mad?" I mock, putting on a fake pout.

Without warning, she fires several shots in my direction. I roll to the side, transmuting a shield from the floor in front of me. The shield shatters as Yang pounds it with round after round. I stand and begin deflecting her shots with my blades, leaving indents in the floor around my feet.

"I thought you wanted all out? You didn't even give me time to use Ascension." I say, my blades resting at my sides.

"You can use it whenever you want, but I'm gonna kick your ass while you're charging up."

"So you know you can't beat me when I'm 100%?"

"Of course, I'm not stupid."

"I'm not so sure," I taunt, "You are blonde after all."

Waves of heat start to pour across the room, and I almost have to hold my hand over my eyes to look at Yang as she goes supernova.

"How long have you been charging up for this?"

"Since our fight with that mech suit." She grunts out as her aura begins to stabilize.

"I guess I should ask, when did you decide you wanted to kill me?"

"When I figured out how unstable you were. Your display at the Parker's is what decided it. The chance of you losing it and hurting my sister is far too high, so I need to do something."

"Attempting to kill me is your solution?"

"Attempting to kill you is to make you scared. You won't touch her if you're scared of me."

"I won't touch her regardless. This is you being unable to accept that your little sister is growing up! She's mature enough to make her own decisions and you're trying to rule over her. You're in denial!" I yell, raising one of my blades at her.

"No, I just want to protect her and keep her happy."

"And severely injuring her girlfriend is the way to keep her happy?!"

"It's what needs to be done."

"You say I'm the monster. You're the one trying to control your sister, and keep her from being happy. In the end, Ruby decides who she's with, and though you should have a say, it's her decision to make."

"Shove it." She says, "We're ending this here and now, my sister's opinion doesn't change that."

"Fine, but understand that no matter the outcome, Ruby will still be mad at both of us."

 _Click, click_ , I hear as a new set of shells slides into Ember Celica's chambers.

" _That's the way it's gonna be huh?_ " I think, readying myself.

She charges and I deflect with my right arm, spinning to slash at her back. She takes the hit and a small amount of blood oozes from the wound. I backstep away from her and watch as the heat from her semblance sears the wound close.

"You will seriously hurt her if you continue to use your swords." James comments.

" _I know, but if I take time to put them away, she'll gun me down._ " I say, dodging another several round burst from Yang.

I clap, transmuting a box around myself and placing my swords on the floor, " _They'll be safe here._ "

The box rattled around me as Yang laid into the outside with her fists, so I blink behind her and get a strong hit to her shoulder. She spins, her eyes burning bright red, and uppercuts me in the in the stomach. I spit a bit, and block her next hit with my forearm.

"I'll kill you if you don't go all out." She screams, throwing punch after punch.

"Maybe I'm alright with dying if it means I'm not hurting my friend!" I yell, catching her fist, flipping her over my head, and slamming her to the floor. I jerk back, as Yang's semblance scorched my normal hand. She sweeps her legs, dropping mine out from under me. I wrench my head to the side just as Yang's fist slams into the floor where my head was. I use both legs and throw her away from me. I get to my feet, and take my defensive stance.

"She will outlast you if her semblance is active." James interrupts.

" _She'll win and kill me._ "

"What the hell are you playing at then?"

" _I want to see if she'll do it_."

"How stupid…" He starts before I block him out.

In the time I'd been talking, Yang had staggered to her feet, her aura still giving off massive amounts of heat. The two of us lock eyes and begin to charge at each other. We meet in the middle, the aura covering our fists spraying sparks as the two opposing forces collide at high speed. I meet her blow for blow, each time narrowly avoiding getting hit somewhere critical.

"You're...really...not...holding...any...punches." I say, each pause indicative

of a block or return punch.

I keep meeting her punch for punch, but my automail was definitely feeling the effects, " _I'm going to need some major repairs after this one._ "

I decide to take a different approach. I bear her next hit, and roundhouse kick her in the chest. She wheezes as I aim another kick for her shoulder, which she uses both arms to block.

" _That's what I thought. She's a brawler, so she not used to a large amount of kicks._ "

I throw another kick at her shoulder, which she moves to block before I go for the feint and slam my leg down into her kneecap. She winces and drops to her knees, one hand clutching her injury, the other firing at me with Ember Celica. I manage to deflect one with my automail, the other slams into my regular shoulder. It was clearly aura charged as I brace my hand over the spot it hit.

" _Fuck, that stings. She's wasn't lying about going all out. I guess I shouldn't underestimate her._ " I think.

I transmute the front plate of my automail into a short blade, and I rush at Yang again. She meets my makeshift sword with Ember Celica. I get my blade behind her left gauntlet and pull back, throwing the weapon from her wrist. She goes to hit with her right, but I dodge it and drop to the floor. I quickly transmute the floor around Yang's feet to hold her in place. I deflect her next three shots and dive towards the fallen weapon. Sliding the gauntlet onto my own arm, I fire a shot which Yang deflects with her portion of the weapon. She slams her fist into the floor, shattering the shackles around her ankles, and charges me again. I duck under her strike and slam my left elbow into her jaw. Her lip started bleeding and she spits a small amount on the floor before we clash again. I go to hit before she spits some in my eyes. I wipe it away just in time to see Yang's fist smash my injured shoulder, and Ember Celica fire. The force throws me back, and I land on my injured shoulder. I hold my hand up to it and feel a warm liquid flow over my fingers. " _She broke skin with that hit, and probably threw out my shoulder. A nice play, disrupting my aura and following it up with a slug."_

"I guess playtime is over…" I say, the metallic smell of blood filling my nostrils.

" _You ready?_ " I ask James.

"If I must be…" He mumbles.

I align with him and release the combined power, my aura arching and turning its ascended golden hue. The rapid increase instantly stopping the stream of blood from my shoulder.

"It doesn't have to be this way Yang." I say, taking stance once more.

"Like hell! If I let you continue, Ruby will get hurt."

"I don't know where you got that in your head, but it's not gonna happen. Not now, not ever."

I let her charge again, deflecting blow after blow, only to catch a punch to the cheek and stumble as she presses her offense. A quick jab to my stomach and she's got me doubled over, but I catch her elbow as she tries to slam it into my neck. I was tempted to break her arm and end this, but I know that it would just prove her point. I blink behind her, and flick the back of her head. By the time she spins, I had already blinked behind her again and pulled her hair. I laugh as she tries to punch me and I fend off every hit with one hand. Every hit, I feel her aura gain a small amount of power and I let her keep going so that she would have some chance of fighting me.

" _This isn't even fun…_ "

"This is what happens when you're so far above your opponent. No one can touch you…"

"You bitch!" She screams, throwing another onslaught of punches my way. I grab her arm and quickly apply some aura to its surface.

"What did you…" She asks, her arm frozen.

"I locked the aura covering your arm," I smirk, "You're not moving it unless I undo the lock."

She roars, her semblance scorching the area around her feet, and she begins flexing the arm I had just frozen.

"Really? I seem to be moving it just fine."

"So you were paying attention during our lessons? I thought Blake's choice of attire may have distracted you."

"She does look good in short shorts, but that's not why we're here."

"You're the one getting off topic. You're here to try and kill me. I'm here to mess around until you tire yourself out, or I get too bored and leave."

"You think I'm just going to let you leave?"

"You mean like this?" I say, blinking to the cafeteria.

The entire cafeteria looked up as I appeared at the coffee counter, "Can I get a small mocha latte with a shot of espresso please?"

The lady looked terrified, but she quickly prepared my drink. "Here you go," I say handing her my id, "Charge it to my school account."

She swipes the card and hands it back to me, while I grab my drink from the counter.

"Thank you." I say, blinking back to the sparring arena.

The look on Yang's face was somewhere in between pure rage and slight intrigue.

"What? I always need some coffee or tea to start my day, and you didn't give me time to make my own."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me? Is our fight to the death some fucking game to you?"

"If I'm honest, yeah. You have no chance, and I mean no chance, to beat me. I didn't want to fight you in the first place, so I don't see why this has to continue."

"Because I have to keep my sister…"

"Safe. Blah blah blah, can you stop using that as your excuse already? If you were really concerned about Ruby, you could have her taken out of classes and returned to Signal. Then she'd be nowhere near me, and your problem's solved. But that's not the problem. Your problem is someone else being able to protect Ruby better than you. Someone who's stronger to the point of you being useless. And you're afraid of what's going to happen once someone decides they want to take a shot a me. The logical thing for someone to do is find my weak point, Ruby being that weak point. The thing I would give anything, even my own life, to protect. Anyone trying to get me would come for her as well, and you know you can't stop them."

"If you understand that, then why are you staying with her?"

"Because she wouldn't let me leave. I asked her about it, said I was thinking about breaking up with her for her own protection. I'm pretty sure she would have slapped me if I wasn't bedridden with pneumonia. It didn't matter to her. She felt she could handle whatever or whoever would come after me."

"I don't care what she thinks, you're dangerous on all fronts, and I can't let her stay with you."

"Here we go again with the "I'm dangerous" crap. You really think Ozpin would let me teach here if I was any sort of threat to his students?

"Now you bring Ozpin into this. I don't care what anyone else thinks. You're a danger to yourself and to everyone around you."

I go to say something, but she interrupts, "No more talk, let's finish this." She says, squaring up against me.

"Fine by me." I say, arming Ember Celica's cuff on my arm.

* * *

**Meanwhile…(Ruby P.O.V)**

" _Where the hell did they go?_ " I think, trying to follow their trail.

" _Damn it! I don't sense their auras either. I have to stop them before they do something stupid. Who do I go to? Port? No, Weiss? maybe, Ozpin? He'd know where Sierra went._ "

I throw on my semblance and run as fast as I can to the administration wing, trying to avoid hitting students as I run. I make it in under a minute, and knock on the door to Ozpin's office. Miss Goodwitch answers it, "Miss Rose, you do realize you're still in your sleepwear don't you?"

"Yes mam, but I need to see the headmaster. It's urgent."

"If you rushed all the way down here in your nightgown, it must be. Come in." She says, pulling the door closed behind me.

I follow behind her as she opens the inner door for Ozpin's office, "Miss Ross is here to see you. She says it's urgent."

"You're up awfully early Miss Rose, is something wrong?"

"My sister challenged Sierra to a fight, and I don't know where they would have gone."

"They didn't go to the training room?"

"My sister wanted to go all out, and Sierra didn't think the normal training room would survive a fight like that, so they went somewhere and I can't find them. I don't sense their auras anywhere." I say, frantically.

"I would have to assume my niece used her semblance to take your sister someplace to fight if you can't sense them here."

"Can you tell me where she might have gone?"

"I don't believe it would be wise for you to try and intervene. I'm assuming something happened between you and my niece that your sister didn't approve of?"

I lightly nod yes, "Well then stopping them now would only serve to fan the flames. It would only be a matter of time before they would fight again.

"But Yang…"

"I know you're worried, but I doubt they'll do anything too reckless."

"I'd still like to know where they are. Just in case."

Ozpin sighs, "They are more than likely in the staff dueling arena. Students aren't supposed to know about it or be allowed in, which will more than likely mean I have to punish Sierra and Miss Xiao Long."

"Wait, they're still at the school?"

"I would wager so."

"Then, why can't I sense them?"

"The walls of the arena are made of a special dust-metal alloy. Aura tends to bounce off of it."

"That explains it. Can you show me where it is?" I say, slightly desperate.

"Not unless it is absolutely necessary. You really don't have anything to be…" He explains.

I feel Sierra's ascended aura appear, the sheer power sends shivers down my spine, but as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Ozpin stops when he sees me shiver, "Is something…"

"Sir, one of the cafeteria attendants just called up. Apparently a girl surrounded by a massive golden aura just appeared, purchased a drink, and disappeared." Goodwitch states, after peeking her head in the door.

"Sierra…" I say, confirming my suspicions.

"I doubt my niece would do anything too drastic against her girlfriend's sister, so I think it would be best for you to wait and go down after they've cooled off."

"Ok, if you're sure. Is it alright if I stay and talk with you until then?" I ask.

"About my niece?"

I nod, "Have a seat." He offers, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

"What would you like to know?"

"Why did you ask her to come here and teach? Her being a student I understand, but you making her a teacher doesn't make sense. She's so young."

"Would you like to know the reason I would tell her or the actual reason?"

"Both if it isn't too much trouble."

"I told her it's because of her skill as a warrior, but the actual reason is because I didn't have the chance to ask her father."

"How could you imply she's not…"

"That is not to say Sierra isn't a good warrior." He interrupts, "She's one of the best I've seen at her age, you being a close second. However, she's hot tempered and overconfident, which will get her hurt when she faces an opponent stronger than she is. She's immature on occasion, and that's not something I would usually allow in one of my staff."

"Then why did you allow it?"

"You've seen her teach first hand, and she seems to have quite the knack for it. I couldn't have imagined she would be as good at it as she is, especially without social interaction for most of her life. The Grey family home being on the top of a mountain certainly limits the amount of human contact."

"Speaking of Grey, can you tell me about Sierra's parents?"

"I'm assuming you've asked her and she didn't want to talk about it?"

I shake my head no, "She's talked about them," I say, "but I want to know about their time here at Beacon, how they became so strong."

"They were both high calibre warriors before arrival to Beacon. Her mother came to Beacon with nothing but the clothes on her back, never talking about where she came from or why she was here. Her father had been disowned by his family after he wanted to go to Beacon instead of Atlas' academy. They couldn't accept he wouldn't go, so they left him to the wolves...literally. I never got a straight answer from either of them on why they were trained in the way they were or who trained them. All I know is that they both didn't like to talk about their own parents or childhood. I, personally, met them after initiation was over, and they were already planning how to get good marks on the first combat exam. The two were practically made for each other, so it was no surprise when the two of them got together in a romantic sense. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"If I'm honest, I was hoping for more."

"Any particular reason?"

"I want to train with whoever they did. I want to be on level with Sierra."

"Is her teaching not enough?"

"For anyone else, yes, but not for me. I'm always looking to get stronger, and she's one of the strongest people I've ever met. She was trained by her parents, who I can only assume were trained by their parents. I want to find the source."

"I'm afraid the only people who could tell you that aren't with us anymore. Regardless, I doubt any amount of training would put you on level with her now. Her ascended state puts her aura level above the top ten hunters and huntresses we have."

"I know, but…" I stop.

"Continue."

"I don't want to be useless if someone tries to hurt her." I admit, sadly. "With how powerful she is, someone is bound to try and find a way to get to her. I don't want to be that way."

"I understand, but right now your focus should be to become the best huntress you can be. Not trying to compete with my niece."

"I just…want to protect her. She's saved my life once, and in the event she's in trouble, I want to be able to return the favor."

"I'm sure you can help her in other ways than that." He says before leaning close, "Like helping her cope with what happened while she was kidnapped."

"She said she never told anyone before she met Team RWBY, so how did you know about…"

"I didn't, you just told me." He says solemnly, "I've had my suspicions that something more than what she has told me went on while she was kidnapped. You simply confirmed that is the case."

"You should have confirmed it a long time ago!" I yell, placing my hands on his desk. "She's been suffering on her own for so long and you, the only family she has left, didn't do anything!"

"That's not the best tone to take with your headmaster."

"I'm not yelling at my headmaster, I'm yelling at my girlfriend's uncle. You didn't consider that the bodies at their house could have been fake, you didn't ask her what happened after she made it known she was alive, and you let her suffer with the guilt of what she had to do for years!"

"How dare…"

"How dare me? How dare you call yourself her uncle! You...You bast..."

Before I could finish, the walls start to shake. The tremors nearly knocking me off balance.

"What was that?" Miss Goodwitch says, bursting into the room.

I look to Ozpin, "You need to take me to her now, right now!"

He takes a long sip of his coffee, "We'll discuss your unruly tone and what you nearly said once this is over. Follow me." He says, standing.

He takes up a quick pace, and I follow him. He led me through some places of the school that I didn't know existed, all the while getting closer to the source of the tremors. We reached a metal door, and Ozpin enters a code into the terminal beside the door. The door slowly slides open, and I watch in horror as my sister was slammed through a metal box embedded in the floor.

"YANG!" I scream, running to my sister's side.

I prop her head up on my knees, and she spits some blood on the floor, "I'm fine…"

"You shouldn't interfere." A cold, hollow voice echos from behind me.

I turn to find myself face to face with my girlfriend, her eyes blood red.

"Sierra…"

"She asked for this, I'm simply doing as she requested."

"If you keep this up, she'll die."

"Then she shouldn't have attempted to take you away from me. I won't let anyone take you, not while my heart's still beating."

"And I feel the same way," I say, standing and cupping her cheek with my hand, "which is why I can't let your anger take you. You're better than this, I know you are." I finish, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Her ascended aura drops and her eyes turn back to grey, "I shouldn't have taken it this far." She sighs.

"You can make it right. You and Yang need to…" I say, turning to my sister.

I freeze as I see my sister holding Sierra's swords over top of each other, and watch as she brings the blades down over her knee. The two blades shatter as my sister's aura shields her leg. Before I could blink, there was a burst of wind and Yang impacted the wall.

"Now you've done it Xiao Long." Sierra growls, her eyes back to red, "You took the only thing I had left from my mother, the only thing I've carried with me for all the years I spent without my parents, the only thing I used as a reminder for me to hold back!" She strides over to my sister and picks her up by the hair. I know my sister must be hurt when she doesn't say anything about her hair being touched. "The monster you wanted to kill wasn't here at the start of this, but now you got me, so how do you want this monster to take you apart?"

"Miss Grey, that's enough!" Ozpin yells.

She chuckles, "You think you can stop me old man?"

"Miss Grey…"

"Miss Grey isn't here anymore, the monster's here to play." She says, turning towards us. Her eyes are an odd color of green and her voice is a slightly different tone.

"Sierra…" I say.

"Are you stupid or are you just bad at listening? Your girlfriend isn't…"

She stops, her eyes and voice switching back to normal, "Ruby...she's back…" Sierra groans, dropping my sister and clutching her head.

"Who?"

"The one...I told you about. The one...that likes hurting...people." She grunts.

"You need to fight her." I plead.

"I'm...trying…"

One of her eyes changes this time, "You little brat! Let me kill her!" The other voice cries.

"No...I won't let you hurt anyone."

I approach her slowly, "Stay back." Sierra pleads.

"No, come here so I can see what color your blood is."

I crouch down next to her normal side, and start singing softly, "I always admit, The ways of my cowardly past  
I can't help that  
And still I  
Always act like I'm brave  
But I'm oblivious  
And now it's back to haunt me  
Forever  
Countless skies that I've painted  
Surely, This is where my heart...Finally doesn't fall apart...Won't fall apart."

I see her eye return to normal and she starts to sing with me, "Jumping high from my dreams  
I'll fly  
No matter what the cost  
Today  
I'll find  
A way  
To shake off all the pain  
Within my dreams  
I'll touch the sky  
But I still realize  
I won't… survive… the fight  
Without you by my side  
You give me light  
When I have lost my way  
I fall asleep  
'cause I always find you  
in...my...dreams  
I'll always be right next to you  
I'll give you everything I have."

She places her head on my shoulder and sobs, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

"It's okay...It's okay..." I murmur, running a hand through her hair.

She pushes herself off my shoulder and crawls over to the shattered remains of her mother's swords, and I watch as she tries to transmute the blades back together. Only the blades wouldn't form properly, as if the metal didn't want to become a sword again. The liquid metal bouncing as the transmutation attempted to shape it. The transmutation began to fail, and I watch her jerk back from the rebound. When she finally gave up, she gathered up the pieces and put them into her cloak. Once she was done, she crawled back over to me and curled up in my lap, tears streaming down her face.

Ozpin walks over, "What do you think your punishment for letting a student into the staff dueling arena should be?"

"Now's not the time for…" I say.

"Temporary suspension from teaching." Sierra interrupts, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

"You know exactly how serious what you've done is, and you accepted the proper consequence. Therefore, I'm only going to forbid you from further use of the arena for this school year. Now, I expect you both to escort Miss Xiao Long to the infirmary, which means our discussion about your...behavior, Miss Rose, will have to wait."

"Fine by me." I respond, standing to place one of my sister's arms onto my shoulder.

Sierra does the same, and we start to carry her. Ozpin eyeing the two of us as we walk out.

"Can you blink us there?" I ask

She doesn't say anything, but nods no. I wonder what's up until I look at the shoulder she is using to hold up my sister. Her shirt is soaked through with blood, and it looked like the bone was out of the socket.

"Sierra! Stop!, you're going to push it further out of the socket."

"I'm fine." She grunts, clearly in severe pain.

I stop, not letting her go any farther, "I can carry Yang by myself, now let go."

"No."

"Why? You're hurt."

"I hurt her, now I have to fix it." She says, clearly on the brink of tears, leaving me unsure if it was from the pain or everything that had happened.

"You couldn't control yourself. It wasn't your…"

"It was my fault!" She yells, her aura flaring. "I got angry Ruby. Truly angry. That's something I promised to never let happen again, and it was that mistake that let her out. She would have killed Yang if you and Oz hadn't been there to stop her. Imagine what would happen if she got control while I was ascended? She could wipe Beacon off the map without even trying. I have to keep control no matter how strong the feeling. I can remember what she was thinking Ruby. She was trying to decide how she should kill you and Yang. I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen to you, and I definitely couldn't live with myself if it was me."

"I know, but you can control it. You're too stubborn for someone to control you. That doesn't matter right now, let me carry her."

"Fine, I'll let you carry her." She says, letting go of the arm she was holding. She starts to walk off, only she wasn't walking towards the infirmary…

"Where do you think you're going?" I scold.

"Back to the dorms…" She says, questioningly.

"Not to the infirmary?"

"I'll be fine. It's just a dislocated shoulder…"

"Pop it back in."

"What?"

"If it isn't swollen to the point where you would need to see a doctor, then all you should have to do is pop it back in."

I watch her grit her teeth as she starts to press the shoulder back in, but she couldn't slip it back in with how swollen it had gotten.

"You're coming to the infirmary."

"No." She pouts.

"You don't want to have two metal arms do you?"

She mumbles something under her breath, "What was that?" I ask.

"You're right…" She grumbles.

"I couldn't hear you, you're going to have to speak up."

"You're right okay? That better?"

"Much. Now come on."

* * *

**Sierra P.O.V**

"Why does the infirmary have to be across the school from the staff arena?" I groan, nursing my swollen shoulder.

"They didn't expect staff to engage in fights to the death, or get injured when they do." Ruby smirks.

"She started it!" I retort.

"I know, if you had started it, I'd beat you up myself."

Yang started to stir, and winced when she tried to move, "How do you feel?" Ruby asks.

"Like I got hit by a truck."

"Anything broken?"

"I don't think so, but I'm going to be sore for weeks. You can put me down."

Ruby obliges only for Yang to shift on her feet and fall back onto Ruby's shoulder, "I thought you said I could put you down!" Ruby exclaims.

"She's trying to get out of going to the infirmary too." I quip.

"Hey! That's not what I was…"

"I don't care what you were trying to do Yang, you're going to the infirmary. Be glad it wasn't worse. You might not be alive if Sierra actually went all out. I'm thankful I managed to snap her out of it. How much do you remember?"

"The last thing I remember was Sierra's eyes being green and her asking how I wanted to be taken apart." She says, shivering slightly near the end.

"That wasn't Sierra. I know my girlfriend and she wouldn't say something like that. Whoever or whatever that was, wasn't Sierra."

"She took me over, Yang I'm so sorry." I plead for forgiveness.

"She?" Yang asks.

"She's some sort of different personality, not a different person per se, but a different version of me. I guess the easiest way to explain it is like if you suddenly started thinking like Ruby or Weiss. You're not a different person, just a drastically different thought process."

"Does "she" have a name?"

"Why would I name a personality? Seems kind of irrelevant since I never want to see her if I can avoid it."

"How often does she show up? If this is a common occurrence then my fight was justified."

"She hasn't shown up since I left the Fang. I make sure to keep her under wraps, but…you broke my mom's swords." I say, tears flowing again. "They were the only thing I had left, I don't even have a picture of her now."

Yang goes to say something, but Ruby interrupts her, "You will make this up to her."

"She had me choking on my own blood!"

"Wounds will heal, what you did can't be fixed."

"You could remake the swords…"

"It's not the swords that are important Yang, it's the principle. It would be the same as someone ripping up my cloak. Mom gave it to me, and I made it my mission to protect it as long as I live to pass it along to my children. Was it the same for you?" Ruby asks me.

"She always kept them pristine, and I promised myself to do the same. I kept them through my kidnapping, my time with the Fang, even when I was living homeless in Mistral..."

"What?!" They both exclaim.

I sigh, "When I left the Fang, we were at a memorial rally for the Mistralian Faunus Massacre. I left and didn't know who I could trust, so I did odd jobs to pay for food, but I never had enough for an apartment. I saved up a bit, got an airship ticket to Vale, and rang Ozpin's doorbell. I remember that night so well. It was raining and I was completely soaked, but that didn't stop Ozpin from giving me the biggest hug. I had him re-establish my bank account and I rented myself an apartment in Vale. I got jobs hunting Grimm outside the walls, and...caught up on everything I'd missing while kidnapped. Shortly thereafter, I had enough money saved to travel around without having to worry about getting stuck somewhere. I traveled the world, seeing the sights and using my skill to help people in need. About a year and a half later, I got a letter from Ozpin asking me to come to Beacon. Then I met you guys and Blake, and talked to Weiss for the first time in ten years. Now you're up to date on the shitty story that is my life up until this point."

"It could be worse…" Yang says.

"How?"

"There were plenty of times where you could have died, but you didn't. What's the saying?, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." The saying is definitely true given you're one of the strongest people on Remnant, and I can say that from first hand experience."

"I guess you're right. I don't think I thought about it like that before. Thanks Yang."

"It's the least I can do for you not killing me."

Nurse Sonja spots us from down the hall as we we're hobbling towards the medical wing, and rushes down with a wheelchair for Yang.

"Thank you…" Yang sighs before passing out in the chair.

She smacks me over the head, "You need to stay out of trouble. This is the third time you've been to the infirmary this year, and I will not tolerate a teacher being so reckless without a word to the headmaster." She scolds as we walk down the medical wing's main hall.

"I know, I know, I'll try and be more careful from now on."

She turns to Ruby, "You need to keep her out of trouble since it seems to find her no matter where she is."

"I'll try, but no promises." Ruby says, shrugging her shoulders.

She sighs, "Let me escort Miss Xiao Long for treatment, and then we'll see about setting your shoulder."

"It will be fine. I need something to get the swelling to go down, then I'll pop it back in myself."

"You realize how much that will hurt right?" She asks.

"I've been through worse, trust me."

"Since you're not in too much pain from your shoulder, you can stay in the waiting area here." She says, motioning to several sets of chairs in an outcropping of the hallway. "I'll get one of the other nurses to bring some anti-inflammatory salve, while I get Miss Xiao Long checked out."

She walks off and Ruby turns to me, "Are you sure you don't want one of the doctors to set your shoulder?"

"I can handle it." I say as she gives me a stern look, "I haven't gone that soft, have I?"

"I guess we'll see once they bring the salve."

A nurse peaks around the corner, "Is there a Miss Grey?"

"That's me." I say, waving her over.

She walks over, "I'm going to need you to remove your shirt…"

I get nervous, none of the nurses knew about my wings. She would definitely see them if I took off my shirt…

I look at Ruby and she gets the message, "She has some scarring on her back she doesn't like people to see." Ruby explains.

"I'm a professional, but if she's insistent on not letting people see them then, you'll have to do it."

"Ok, thank you." Ruby says, politely taking the salve from her hand.

I slip my shirt off my shoulder, and Ruby cringes, "Is it bad?"

"I can see bone…" She says, clearly trying not to gag.

"Put some salve on it so I can pop it back in. I'll get them to bandage it."

She rubs a generous amount of the paste around the wound, "It says to wait fifteen minutes for full effect."

We sit there in silence for a minute or two before she asks, "What weapon are you going to use now?"

I turn to her, "I might try reforging my mom's swords by hand, but for the immediate I might just go hand to hand."

"I'm sorry I let Yang break your swords."

"It's not your fault, if we hadn't fought in the first place, it would have never happened. I should have accepted responsibility for my actions..."

"You did! You told me you had… hurt people before we started dating, and I accepted that and was willing to deal with the problems that came with it. It's not my sister's job to tell me who I can and can't date."

"She's just trying to protect you. I can't say I disagree with her…"

"What…"

"I'm dangerous Ruby, not a thing in the world can change that. If...she gets loose…"

"I will deal with her, just like I deal with Grimm."

"You can't fight her! I couldn't stand it if she hurt you! Yang's right, you shouldn't be with me."

"That's not going to happen! I promised to be with you forever, remember? Your problems don't change that, nothing will ever change that. You understand?!" She yells, grabbing my hand.

"Yes...I forgot how stubborn you are."

"Now, pop it back in."

I grabbed my shoulder with my automail, and jerked my back as hard as I could without letting go.

 _POP!_ , "Fuck!"

"That's gross…" Ruby says, holding her hand over her mouth.

"Doesn't matter, it's fixed." I say, the pain now just a dull burn.

"Except for the hole."

"My aura will get to that...eventually."

"You should get the doctors to bandage that..." She starts

"I'll heal…" I interrupt.

"for me." She finishes.

"Ugh! Fine." I groan, "but you have to go get Miss Sonya."

She walks off and I sigh as my shoulder throbs, " _You there James?"_

"I am, and I can't say I'm pleased with you."

" _I know, but…_ "

"As in, no Ascension for a while, not pleased with you."

" _What? What happens if I actually need it?_ "

"Then I'll do it, but no more messing around. Especially with what's her face hanging around."

" _I guess I should give her a name huh?_ "

"It would be useful for conversation."

" _I'll call her Medusa, something I hate that is really ugly._ "

I think I hear him chuckle a little bit, "Medusa it is then."

I hear footsteps and Ruby turns the corner with Miss Sonya in tow.

"Would you like to wrap it yourself too?" Miss Sonya asks sarcastically.

"Yes if it isn't too much trouble."

"The nerve…" She huffs, putting the bandages in my hands.

"Thank you."

She walks off again and Ruby takes the bandages from me, "Hold still." She says, wrapping the cloth under my arm.

"Is Yang ok?"

"No broken bones, a minor concussion, and some bruises. Overall, she came out relatively unscathed. I'm going to get Blake in a couple minutes."

"She doesn't know what happened?"

"No, as far as I know, she doesn't know what happened."

"Send her a message then!"

"It's no use worrying her. Yang will be cleared to leave in a couple minutes. I've been instructed by Nurse Sonya to see you both get large amounts of bedrest so your auras recover properly. High expenditure can cause issues, so she wants you two to get as much rest as possible."

"I'll keep that in mind." I say as my scroll buzzes.

"Who is it?"

"It's from Weiss…" I say, "No…"

"What?"

"The tests finished and Weiss' cure was complete…"

"That's a good thing right?"

"It would be...if someone hadn't ransacked the lab and taken the cure."


	22. The Burdens We Carry

"What?!"

"Someone broke into the lab and took the final run of the cure." I tell her through gritted teeth.

"Who would do something like that?"

"Her father sent someone. No one else could have made the connection. I should have been guarding it from that bastard. I knew he would try something, damn it!" I yell, slamming my fist into the wall.

"Doesn't he want his wife back?"

"Of course not. Once she found out about all the women he's cheated on her with, it would be an instant divorce. The Schnee name would be a laughing stock, and his company would suffer heavily from the negative press. He can't have  _anything_  hurt his company."

"How did someone get in and out without being noticed?"

"The room's door was sealed, which means someone or something went through the ventilation system. Looks like I'm going against what the nurses asked."

"No, I'm not letting you go after a criminal heavily injured and missing the weapons you're used to."

"Ruby, this can't wait. I'm not letting that bastard get away with this. I would appreciate you grabbing my cloak from our room."

"I refuse to let you play detective while there's a hole in your shoulder!"

"Then use alchemy on it, you can fix it right now."

"I won't if that means you're going to put yourself in harm's way. You have no idea what you're up against!"

"Nothing I can't handle." I say, adjusting my automail shoulder joint.

"You don't know that! You're always talking about how you want to keep me safe, but you don't realize I want the same for you. I want to protect you, but I know you're so much stronger than me. The people and things that would hurt you are powerful, more powerful than I could ever be. I can't protect you from them, so please don't do this."

I sigh, "I know you're worried, and I know you want to protect me. But I can't just sit there and let Weiss' father get away with this. Weiss needs her mother back, so she stops blaming herself for what happened. I'm a huntress, danger comes with the job description."

"Not the kind of danger you've found. You fought a homunculus for Oum's sake! You wouldn't have won that fight had Gluttony's philosopher's stone not run out."

"I know!" I yell, "But I can't sit here and wait for them to show up to kill me! My only chance is to try and get stronger, strong enough to destroy Gluttony and his master. I have to track down my father's journals. The Truth seems interested in their content, enough to trade control of a person's portal over for it."

"You're not thinking this through, why would the Truth need your father's journals for knowledge he already has?"

"I don't know, but it's the only way for me to get the strength I need. That's final." I say, turning away.

"If that's final, we're through!" She yells, grabbing my shoulder.

I turn back to her, "Through?! Over what? Me wanting to get stronger? Me wanting to help Weiss? Are you that jealous of her?"

"I'm not jealous of her! I'm tired of not being able to do anything!" She screams, "Everytime you use Ascension, every time you charge into a fight, I get scared. Scared I'm going to lose you, like my mom…" She says, as tears well up in her eyes.

"Ruby I…"

"Don't! You never considered that, did you?! You never considered there might be a fight you don't win. I don't know what I would do if I lost you, if I could ever forgive myself for not being there to protect you or being helpless against whatever was trying to hurt you."

Then she gets a determined look in her eye, "You can get stronger much faster than I can, so all I ask is for you to give me a chance to catch up."

"Ruby, there's no way for you to…"

"I don't care, I'm going to try anyway. There has to be a way."

I sigh, "I'm not going to stop you, and if you insist, I won't try and get stronger. But nothing is going to stop me from finding the cure for Weiss' mother. She has suffered with the same guilt I have for years, and I'm not going to let it continue."

She huffs, "Fine, but I'm helping."

She wraps her arms around me, "What's this for?" I ask.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry for not considering how you felt about the number of risks I was taking. Up until this point," I sigh, hugging her back. "I guess it didn't matter whether I made it out of a fight or not. Just as long as whoever I was protecting made it out, I was fine with every outcome. It's time for that attitude to change. Your happiness is my top priority, if that includes me being healthy, then I guess I shouldn't be getting in fights I can't win."

I sit down in one of the chairs. Ruby sits beside me and I lay my head on her shoulder. She starts humming and I close my eyes, simply enjoying her being there.

I hear footsteps and open my eyes, "Sorry if I'm interrupting…" Nurse Sonja says. "But Yang will only be another minute or so."

"Did the full scan catch anything more than you told Ruby?" I ask, sitting straight up.

"Two pulled muscles, a couple bruises, and a wounded ego. Other than that, her aura will need a bit of a rest after the strain you put on it, but she'll be one hundred percent by the end of the week. The painkillers put her a bit out of it, so I wouldn't expect much… intelligent conversation out of her for the next couple hours. The medicine has a stronger effect as time goes on, so getting her to bed will prevent her from doing anything too rash."

"Thank you for taking care of my sister." Ruby says, bowing slightly.

She chuckles a bit at the gesture, "Thanks isn't necessary, it is my job afterall."

Another nurse comes around the corner pushing Yang in a wheelchair, "She's free to go."

"Hehe, go." Yang mumbles.

"Can she walk?" I ask.

"Yes, but I think it will be easier for you to take her in the wheelchair. The medication is known to affect balance."

"No, I walk by... myself." Yang slurs, jumping from the wheelchair. I watch her lose her footing, and I catch her before she hits the floor.

The nurse pushes the chair over, but I raise my hand, "I can carry her."

Nurse Sonja looks disappointed, "You really shouldn't be putting stress on your shoulder."

I go to say something, but she interrupts, "But you're going to do it regardless of what I say right?"

"Am I that predicable?"

"Considering you didn't follow my instructions to stay out of trouble, you're pretty predictable."

I huff, "Fine, pass me the wheelchair."

The second nurse slides it over and I lay Yang back in the chair. Ruby goes to push it, but I grab it before she can.

"You'll hurt your shoulder, let me push her."

"I can handle it."

Nurse Sonja sighs at my stubbornness, "Just try and keep stress off your shoulder for the next day or so. If you're still feeling pain after that, you'll need to come see me about stitches."

"Ok, thank you for the help." I say.

"Goodness Yang," I grunt as I start to push the wheelchair, "you need to layoff off the cheeseburgers."

Ruby smacks me on the back of the head, "What?" I ask.

"She's not that heavy and you know it."

"I'm not fat…" Yang mumbles.

"Let's get you to bed." I say, "See you soon Nurse Sonya!"

"I'd better not!" She chuckles.

"Fair enough." I say.

* * *

The sun was shining through the corridor's massive windows as Ruby and I walk, pushing Yang along in the wheelchair.

"It's really nice out today." Ruby says, her eyes sparkling as the sun reflected off her pools of liquid silver.

"I never noticed how your eyes did that." I say, off in my own world.

"What?"

"They almost glow when the sun is shining on them. Somehow it makes you look even more beautiful."

She blushes, "Stop."

"Stop what? Telling you that you're beautiful, that you're smart, and that I love you." I say, kissing her on the cheek.

Her blush starts to match her cloak, "You're embarrassing me."

"No one else is around but Yang, and I don't think she'll remember it."

"What you talkin bout? I function one hundred percent." [A/N: Go home Yang, you're drunk ;)]

"She is really out of it." Ruby giggles.

"Let's get her to the room, then I'm going to see what Weiss has found out."

"No, we're going to see what Weiss has found out."

* * *

Ruby opens the door to their dorm, and we walk in to find Blake sitting on her bed.

"Yang!" She yells, rushing over, "Is she okay? What happened?"

"I thought I told you to message her so she wouldn't worry."

"My scroll was dead…" Ruby admits.

"What happened?" Blake growls.

"Yang and I had a fight." I tell her, motioning to the sling on my shoulder, "We both took some hits, and we'll both be fine before the end of the week."

"I'm...perfectly k, kitty cat." Yang mumbles, trying to reach for Blake's bow.

Blakes goes to ask, but I beat her to it, "The painkillers have her a bit out of it, so we brought her here to rest."

"And where are you going with your arm like that?"

"Someone broke into the dust lab and stole the cure Weiss made for her mom. I am going to investigate and Ruby is tagging along to make sure I don't aggravate my injuries."

"I want to help with the investigation." She says, looking determined.

"As helpful as you would be, I don't feel confident in leaving Yang here alone in the state she is in."

"Then you stay here with her, since you were the one that caused her to be on the painkillers."

"Hey, but…" I start.

"I think that's a great idea." Ruby says, "It guarantees you won't get hurt, and Blake shouldn't have to care for her drugged up girlfriend."

I give her my puppy dog eyes, but she had already made up her mind. "Fine." I puff, "I'll stay with Yang, but the second I'm sure she's asleep I'm blinking down there."

"You're the best," Ruby says, kissing me on the cheek, "C'mon Blake let's go."

Blake gets up and follows Ruby out, while I help Yang out of the wheelchair and into bed.

"You need to rest Yang."

"No, I don't wanna take a nap."

"You'll feel better after you sleep a bit."

"I'll only sleep if you snuggle with me."

I instantly blush, "Yang I'm not…"

"You're my kitty." She says, grabbing at my ears.

" _I left them uncovered, why did I leave them uncovered?_ "

I try to pull away, but she hooks her arm around my bad shoulder and pulls me onto the bed.

"Yang…" I growl, "Let me go."

"But I won't let my kitty go, ever."

" _Of course, they_ _ **had**_ _to give her the painkillers that get stronger over time. I guess I just have to play along…_ "

I throw on my best impersonation of Blake, "I'll snuggle, but only if you give me enough space to read."

Yang rapidly nods her head yes, "Ok, let me up so I can grab something to read."

She lets go, and I grab one of the many books off Blake's shelf. I figured out she sorts them by how satisfying the ending was, so I grabbed one from the top of the shelf where all the good ones were.

I slide back onto the bed, and Yang wraps her arm around me again. She presses her head into my hair, and mumbles something about how soft it is.

"I don't understand why the other kitty isn't nice like you."

 _Oh no…_  "You mean Sierra?" I ask.

She yawns, "She acts so nice, but she hurt people."

"From what she's told us, it isn't like she had a choice." I say, trying to defend myself.

"But she hurt so many," Yang reasons, "she should have just let them kill her."

I go to say something, but the thought enters my mind, " _Should I have let them kill me? Was keeping ten kids alive worth the seventy-eight people I murdered? People with families that were waiting for them to come home?"_

"Yang I..." I start, ready to explain myself.

Only she was already asleep, her head pressed into the small of my back.

I go to get up, but James stops me, "You getting up will wake her."

" _I want to go help Weiss."_

"Right now, you need to keep Yang asleep. If that means staying, then you stay."

" _This is so...uncomfortable._ "

"Can you honestly say that when you've slept chained to the ceiling?"

" _I'm in bed with my girlfriend's older sister who just so happens to be my best friend's girlfriend. It's pretty uncomfortable, not gonna lie._ "

"Awkward maybe, but not uncomfortable."

" _Just...let me suffer in peace._ "

"If you say so."

I feel his presence start to fade, but then I remembered, " _Hey James?"_

"Yes?"

" _How's Shade been doing?"_

"He's...annoyed with not being able to remember anything. He wants to know what happened to him, you know, before he died."

" _Ruby said something earlier that's gotten me thinking. She asked me why the Truth would want my father's journals if he knows everything about alchemy._ "

He stays silent for a moment, "She's on to something certainly. Your portal cost you an arm…"

" _Not true. Opening it cost me my arm,_ " I tell him, looking down at my arm, " _Each person has their own portal, which can be opened through an exchange with the Truth. The portal collapses in on itself when a person dies, as their soul passes through it for the final time. That's how I knew you weren't "dead". Your portal still exists._ "

"What about Ruby's mother?"

" _I can only assume her portal was the one I saw across from mine. Though, I don't understand why I could see it. Nothing explains how her portal became linked with mine, or how my portal changed to take in Lost Ones._ "

"You've got a lot of questions, but very few answers."

" _I've been thinking about going to find Raymond and getting some answers, but…_ "

"But?"

" _I couldn't take Ruby with me. I don't know whether Gluttony's master would come after me. I might be able to beat Gluttony, but I doubt his master would stop at one homunculus._ "

"You need to take this one step at a time. It seems like you're taking on too many problems at once."

" _None of the problems I have can be solved by sitting around. Which is why I really don't like being here right now."_

"At Beacon?"

" _Being here is keeping from the answers I need. Maybe that's what Ozpin's plan was to begin with. Bring me here, set me up with someone, and tie me down._ "

"It worked, did it not? And is that such a bad thing?"

" _No. Ruby has...fixed me. I'm not the person I once was. Her happiness means everything to me, and it will until my last breath leaves me."_

"Good to hear. Now, which problem are you tackling first?"

" _Weiss' mother. She doesn't have all that much time left in the best of cases, so we need to get the cure back and find her before Weiss' father can hide her."_

"Then go for it. Blink out of bed, and go track down the bastard who took Weiss' cure."

I blink over to the door, smoothing my clothes and hair. I look back and Yang is still snoring lightly, her face covered in its usual grin.

" _I'm sorry that our fight happened. And you won't have to worry about me being around Ruby for much longer._ "

"What does that mean?"

" _You said take one problem at a time. After I track down the cure, I'm going to find answers about my father's journals and my human transmutation attempt. I won't be taking Ruby with me._ "

"She will be devastated."

" _I'll leave after the dance. It's the only good time._ "

"The only good time?! What the fuck are you talking about? Is there ever a good time to leave your girlfriend who has abandonment issues already?"

" _James…_ " I say, shocked at the outburst.

"No, you listen. I know what leaving someone out of the blue does to someone. You remember how I left Melissa? The woman we saw when we got my memories back?"

I nod, "I went back to see her before I started the dust program. It was the most depressing thing I had ever seen. She hadn't been eating properly since I left. She was skin and bone, and from what Thomson told me, had given up on living. What she had never told me is that her actual son went and joined the Fang. A little less than six months later, he was found dead in Central Vacuo. After my mother died, she wanted to stop the same thing from happening to me. I told her I was sorry and that I should have listened to her. She didn't say anything, she just lie there. She died less than a week later. I made a mistake, now I'm telling you not to make the same one I did."

" _But I have to know damn it!"_ I scream at him, " _I have to know why my siblings were put through hell. I have to know who killed my father. I have to know who planned my mother's death. I have to know who killed Ruby's mother. I have to know what human transmutation did to me, and why the Truth is so interested in me._ "

"Didn't you just say Ruby's happiness was your top priority? You think you leaving will make her happy?"

" _No, but I have to know James. I have to._ "

"Talk to Ozpin first, then see if you can find a way to contact Raymond, but leaving Ruby should be your last resort, period."

" _You're right._ " I say, shaking my head a bit, " _but first things first, it's time to go to work._ "

* * *

The corridor to the dust labs was roped off with caution tape. I duck under the knot in the middle only to find Blake and Ruby standing outside the door to the second dust lab.

"She locked herself in?" I ask.

Ruby nods, "She froze the door shut. She wants to make sure no one disturbs the crime scene."

"Including the people trying to solve the crime?"

"She's sure she can solve it on her own." Blake says.

"I'll open it from the inside." I say, stretching.

I blink inside, and get instantly get pinned against the wall with Myrtenaster.

I raise my hands behind my head, "You have three seconds to get out." Weiss demands, pressing her blade against my throat.

"Weiss, we're here to help you…"

"Help me? Like when you told me to relax?, like when Yang convinced me to leave?" Her piercing gaze locked on me.

"Weiss, there was no way for us to know someone would come after the cure. Especially someone whose semblance let them bypass the security system. I'm here to help you track them down, Ruby and Blake are too."

Her gaze falters, and she drops Myrtenaster to her side, "You slow me down, you keep me from finding this...bastard, and you'll be missing a lot more than an arm."

"Let's get to it then." I say, "Can I let Ruby and Blake in?"

She sighs, "Tell them we'll need them later, but I need ten minutes to bounce my theories off you"

I smash the ice off the door frame, and slide it open a bit.

"She wants ten minutes for the two of us to put our heads together, sound good?"

"Is she..okay?" Ruby asks.

"She's…" I say, looking back at her, "angry at herself mostly. We're going to have to convince her it wasn't her fault at some point, but for right now just let me go through the facts with her and find the person who did this."

"We'll head to the cafeteria and grab something for the four of us to eat. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day." Blake says.

"It's already been a long day for me." I quip, the dull throb in my shoulder still noticeable.

"What do you two want to eat?"

"I don't care what you get me, just get me a lot of it." I turn back to Weiss, "What do you want to eat?"

"Is the chicken stew still on the menu?"

"Yes. Is that what you want?" Ruby calls back.

"Two bowls and some fruit please. I haven't had anything to eat today…" Weiss says, her eye showing her realization of how long she had been closed in the lab.

"Can one of you run by and check on Yang? She was asleep when I left, but I'd like to know she stayed asleep."

"I'll run by." Ruby says before switching to a whisper, "Make sure Weiss isn't going to do anything...hasty."

"I doubt she will," I murmur back, "but I'll talk with her."

"If you're going to check on Yang, I'll grab lunch. What do you want Ruby?" Blake asks.

"A sandwich and some strawberries. Meet back here in fifteen minutes?"

Blake and I nod, she holds out her hand, "Team?"

"Weiss come here." I call back, putting my hand on top of Ruby's.

Weiss walks and stands beside me, "What is this?"

Blake puts her hand on mine, "It's a team building thing."

Weiss rolls her eyes, but smiles as she lays her hand on top, "Team!"

Weiss ducks back into the lab, Ruby and Blake turn to leave before I grab Ruby's shoulder. I let Blake round the corner before kissing Ruby on the lips, "Any reason?" She asks.

"After we get done helping Weiss, I need you to come with me to talk with Ozpin."

A look of concern flashes across her face, "Is something wrong?"

"We can talk about it on the way to his office, but finding the thief comes first."

Her face shows she isn't satisfied, but she accepts my response anyway, "Okay, see you in a couple minutes."

She disappears in a puff of rose petals, and I slide the door to the lab closed.

"Ok," I say, "What do you have for me Weiss?"

She opens her Scroll, "The door wasn't opened, which only leaves the ventilation system as the entry point."

"I'm not so sure it was just that." I say, walking to the back of the lab.

"Where else would they have gotten in?" She asks.

I press my normal hand to the inside of the vent, sliding my fingers over the metal.

My fingers ghost over indents in the metal, someone had gotten out of the vent and their weight had pressed grooves into the metal.

"Someone or something did come through, but there's no way for a person of any size to have made it this far, the vent is too small at the back."

"Maybe they have a blink like you?"

"Then why wouldn't they blink all the way into the room?"

"Throw us off? Make us think that they came through the vent when they didn't go that way at all?"

"It all depends on how smart our thief was, which can vary from hired thug to million dollar mercenary. But, neither know to hide their aura trail." I say, pressing my hands to the indents.

I take a deep breath, and feel the aura left in the indents.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asks.

"Quiet, I need absolute silence." I say, letting my aura guide me.

I can still remember the first time my father taught me this technique…

* * *

It was the summer after I had attempted human transmutation, and my dad had taken me out to hunt for the first time since I had gotten my new arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, I must have looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it's just that I'm not used to my arm being so hot." I say, pouring some water on my automail in an attempt to cool it.

"I'll have to make something to help with that. I never considered it being too hot."

"No, it's fine really. I'll just need to get used to it, that's all."

My dad crouches down, and I follow, knowing exactly what it meant. I follow my dad's gaze and see a clearing where a small rabbit was chewing on some grass. My dad pulls his bow from his back and takes aim, but I could tell he was aiming too high.

"Dad," I whisper, "that's way too…"

He lets the arrow fly, and I watch as a wolf jumps from the bush to eat the rabbit, only to be struck by the arrow.

"How did you know the wolf was coming?"

"I'm just that good," He boasts, "Just kidding, I think this is the perfect time to teach you about aura listening."

He sneaks over to the clearing and snatches the rabbit by the back of its neck.

"Every living thing has an aura," He explained, "and when you think about it, Remnant itself is a living thing. Take a second and let your aura flow around you."

I let my aura glow, "Good, now close your eyes. I'm going to let this rabbit run off and let you track it down."

I hear the rabbit drop to the ground and run off into the brush.

I go to open my eyes, "No, you can only use your aura. Let Remnant tell you where the rabbit's aura went."

I take a deep breath and start walking, letting the gentle pull of my aura guide me forward.

" _The rabbit would go downhill, so it has to be this way…_ " I thought. Then, it stopped, the pull vanished.

"You're trying to use your mind to predict where the rabbit went which is distracting you from listening. Let Remnant speak, let your mind go blank."

I let my thought go, and the pull returns, softer than before. I follow it, stepping over tree branches, and make my way in the direction of the pull. Then the pull goes beneath my feet, and I open my eyes. Two little eyes peer out at me from a small hole. I reach down and rub its head gently.

My dad walks up behind me, "Excellent work as usual. I'm proud, you managed to get this technique on the first try."

"Like you expected anything different from me."

"This one might have been the exception, it took me several weeks to get it down myself."

"It works on anything?"

"Anything living, minus Grimm."

"Will it work for…"

He interrupts, "The technique requires the aura to have been in the area within a couple days; otherwise, it will work for anything with an aura. Once you get better, you'll be able to use your eyes to see the aura as it moved. But for now, see if there is anymore game around."

I take another deep breath, and see if there were any animals around, "There doesn't seem to be anything else around." I tell him after a moment

He sighs, "The Grimm must have come this way. Let's circle around the mountain to see if there are any stragglers."

"Okay!" I say, following behind him as we trek towards the mountain side.

* * *

I concentrate, letting my aura flow over the indents, " _Let's see how they got in._ " I open my eyes and a dull glow hovered above the imprints. I watch as the glow backs up, and goes further down the vent. " _So they did come through the vent, but the opening is so small._ "

"They came through the vent," I tell Weiss, "I'm not sure how exactly, but they came all the way from the central vent system."

"What semblance would let someone do that?"

"Again, not sure, but how ever they did it required them to go through the maintenance room. I'll go look around in there after Blake and Ruby get back."

Two knocks sound from the lab door, "Speaking of Ruby and Blake," I say, walking over to the door.

I slide the door open and get handed a tray of food, "Thank goodness," Blake says, "trying to balance three trays of food is a lot more difficult than you'd think."

"I thought Ruby would meet you on the way and help, but I guess she got held up by Yang."

"You two figure anything out?" Blake asks as she grabs an apple from one of the trays.

"Whoever it was came through the central ventilation system," I tell her, "only certain semblances could make someone small enough to get through several of the smaller vents, so my guess would be a shapeshifter of some sort."

"Shapeshifter?"

"It's not very common, but there are people whose semblance allows them to change their appearance. Some only into other people, but some can shift into animals. The only one I have ever met was...artificially made."

"Made?"

I sigh, "The researchers that held us were geniuses in their own right. Their experiments were decades ahead of what's being done now at the cost of human rights for test subjects. Nothing was off limits, which made for some striking results very quickly. They worked with aura, semblances, dust, and even neural interfaced artificial intelligence. I remember the poor girl whose semblance they changed into a shapeshifter. She couldn't control it properly, and she would shift at random. Then she shifted into a dog and couldn't shift back, and I watched her whine as the guards...dealt with her."

"Sierra, I'm not going to lie, I don't see why Blake or I needed to know that."

"You would have to found out someday, and it's better me tell you then for reality to slap you in the face some other time." I say, taking a bite of the sandwich Blake had gotten me.

"That story doesn't make you lose your appetite at all?" She asks.

"Nope." I say, generally unphased.

"That's...indifferent of you."

"Weiss," I sigh, "I've had to watch someone bleed out as I was eating a four course meal while the threat of death lingered over my brother and sister. Talking about a death that I've had years of my life to come to peace with isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to everything I've seen and done."

"I still think you need to see a therapist about… all that. It can't be good for your mental state."

"Weiss, I'm fine. It's been difficult sometimes, but I take it day by day and everything has turned out well so far."

"I'm asking as your childhood friend that you go see a therapist."

"NO!" I yell, but then I shrink back, "Doctors and I don't get along ok?"

"What do you mean?"

"The scars that cover my back were made by men in white coats that smelled like rubbing alcohol who called themselves "doctors.""

"Sierra…"

I sigh, "I'll go on two conditions. One, Ruby agrees to go with me, and two, you find a good therapist."

"I will find one within the next week, if Ruby agrees to it."

Some knocks sound from the door, "Speaking of Ruby…" I say, hopping up to grab the door.

I slide it open and Ruby pushes past me, "Is something wrong?" I ask as she sits.

"No." She says as she sits and starts to eat.

I sit beside her, and notice she is cradling her left arm slightly with her right.

"Ruby...let me see your arm."

"It's nothing…" She says as she eats her sandwich.

"If it's nothing then I can see it." I tell her, grabbing her cloak.

I pull it back and she turns to keep me from seeing her arm, but I catch a quick glimpse of the blistered skin.

"What happened?!" I ask, as Weiss and Blake look up from their food

"I went to check on Yang, and she was having a nightmare." Ruby explains, "I tried to make her feel better by rubbing her back, but she rolled out of bed right as I was next to her. She woke up and flared her semblance immediately when she saw someone standing over her. I screamed and jerked my arm back, and she instantly put herself out. She kept telling me she was sorry, I told her it was fine, she wasn't fully awake."

"Ok. I have two questions, are you okay and is Yang okay?" I ask.

"She's resting again, and I'll just need some time for my aura to fix up my arm. It's not anything serious."

"If you're both okay, then I guess I won't have to have a word with your sister. Now back to business," I say, standing, "I'm going to have a look around the maintenance room and see if our guest left anything behind. You guys finish eating, and I'll call if I find something."

I hop up and go to open the door before Ruby presses her hand to my back, "Be careful."

I turn and give her a kiss on the cheek, "Always."

* * *

"You picked the prime time to investigate," James comments, "Everyone is taking time to eat lunch."

" _Or they're in bed on a Saturday morning, where I wish I was right now."_

" _*cough*_ With Ruby _*cough*_ ," He taunts, "Sorry, there was something in my throat."

" _You don't have a throat._ "

"I do. I think. Not sure really..."

" _Just...stop. We're here._ "

I try the handle to the door, and as with everything at Beacon, it's locked up tight.

" _Ok, blink it is then."_

I blink, and bounce off the wall, " _What the hell?"_

I try again, same result, " _Someone aura warded the room? Why would you ward the maintenance room of all places?_ "

"Someone doesn't want people looking around."

" _Okay, plan B._ "

I clap and attempt to transmute the lock. Electricity arcs from the lock, and I jerk my arm back as the transmutation rebounds.

" _Mixed dust metal locks. Come on Oz you're killin' me._ "

"You're sure someone didn't replace the lock?"

" _Nah, Ozpin is usually overzealous with the stuff. He likes protection. Time for Plan C, I guess."_

I pop open the tube for my grenade launcher, "Whoa, that's a bit much isn't it?"

" _Relax, I'm just getting something."_  I say, pulling two clothes pins from the chamber.

I knelt down so I was level with the door's lock, "You know how to pick locks?"

I roll my eyes, " _Did you think I wouldn't?_ "

"Do you have a limit to what you can do?"

" _Probably, but I haven't found it yet._ "

"Humble as always."

" _Of course, and that's an open door."_ I tell him as I turn the lock's final tumbler.

The door eases open, and a burst of cold air rolls past me. Creeping inside, I close the door behind me and let my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but I started to listen. There was the sound of the A/C unit, but there was also…

" _Breathing?! There's no aura in here._ "

I take a defensive stance and inch towards the source of the raspy breaths. I turn around a large pipe and see a crate sitting next to the wall. The sound quiets itself after I get close and I brace myself for an attack.

" _3...2...1…_ "

I jump around to the front of the container and see a beowolf, cowering in fear at the sight of me.

" _This is where the aura trail leads, but there's only this Grimm…_ "

I crouched down and extended my hand to the beowolf, expecting it to bite at me, but receiving the opposite effect. It pressed itself to the back wall of the cage, keeping one side out of my sight.

" _A trained beowolf? How could someone have possibly…_ "

And then it turned over, and I nearly threw up. One side was your typical beowolf, the other was a normal dog. The thin line where the two met was this bubbling ooze that was clearly only held together by the transmutation circle glowing at its center. I could feel the creature's aura flickering after its normal side turned to face me.

The creature whimpered as I pressed my hand to its center, " _Who would do something like this?_ "

"The same person who made Gluttony." James guesses

"It's aura is so small, and it feels...human."

Then I saw it's eyes, and I froze. The eyes were human, ocean blue human eyes.

"No…" James murmurs

" _How could anyone do something like this?_ "

I press my hand to the dog's head, "If you can understand me, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

It showed no indication it understood what I said and then I realized that the aura seemed human, but underneath the dog's aura was still there.

" _There isn't a human soul in this dog. The eyes were simply to send a message that whoever did this could do it if he wanted to, and to make it seem like a human had gotten the cure."_

"Whoever did it still needed human eyes in order to pull this off, which means they killed someone."

" _Just to send me a message...This is my fault._ "

"Sierra, this is not your fault."

" _Another person is dead because of me…_ " I say, backing away from the creature.

"Sierra, there is nothing that can be done about it now except finding the person responsible. This dog couldn't have made it into this room on his own, so see if there are any clues where they went."

" _Should I…_ " I ask, looking at the shivering mess before me.

"Is there anything you can do?"

" _The only thing I could do is deactivate the transmutation…_ "

"I can only assume that wouldn't be good."

" _I think it would be better than leaving it like this…_ "

I press my hand to the dog's side and smear the ink to the circle. The grimm half begins to dissipate, and I watch the dog stop trembling. It lays on its side and whines one final time before blood begins to run from the dog's missing side.

" _Ok, let's find the bastard who did this._ " I say, looking down at the awful display.

I begin searching the room for any other aura traces, but the room had not a single trace as to who let the dog in here.

"Did they hide their aura when they brought the dog in?"

" _Unless they were hiding there aura long before they got to the door, no. The only aura that I can trace anywhere close is from one of the janitors cleaning the hall. Whoever did this had to have gotten past Beacon security, which wouldn't have let them in without an aura._ "

"Anything special about the cage the dog was in?"

I walk back over, avoiding the poor sight close by, and look the cage over.

" _It doesn't seem like anything special, no marks, no serial number, not even a brand name_."

"A completely untraceable dog cage. Whoever did this really wanted this to be a clean job."

" _Weiss' father would only hire the best of the best, so this is fitting._ "

"Are you sure this was Weiss' father?"

" _Of course, who else would go after a cure for Weiss' mom?_ "

"It seems like someone went to great lengths to cover up their being here. What mercenary, no matter what pay grade, would know to hide their aura so that it couldn't be traced? What reason would they have if they didn't know you? Whoever did this knows you and knows you'll do anything to help your friends, especially if you think it's your fault."

" _Gluttony's master…_ "

"There's not a single doubt in my mind that he's the one behind all this, which means to find Weiss' cure, you're going to need answers."

" _To Ozpin's it is then._ "

I pull out my scroll and call Weiss, "Any news?" She asks.

"Nothing good I'm afraid. I'm going to need some help with a problem."

"Which is?"

"There is a dead dog in the maintenance room…"

"And why is that important?"

"The dog is the one that stole your cure. Its aura was disguised to seem human, but it...wasn't."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"The dog was half grimm, and I removed the grimm." I say, solemnly

I hear her gag, "That does not sound pleasant."

"It's not, but I need someone to clean up while I follow up on a lead."

She huffs, "Blake and I will take care of it," I hear Ruby say something in the background, "Ruby wants to know if this is what you asked her about earlier."

"Yes, and I need her ASAP."

I hear a rush of air, "That dolt! She nearly knocked over the equipment!"

I chuckle, "She's on her way I take it?"

"Yes, and you two better stay on task, no fooling around."

"Weiss, you should know the two of us well enough to know we both are serious when we need to be."

"I know. Now get going."

I hang up just in time for Ruby to fly past me, "I think she wants you to race her."

" _What makes you say that?_ "

"Race you there!" Ruby calls.

"You're on!" I say, a burst of rose petals behind me.

The two of us bolt through the hallways, running past the few students awake this early on a Saturday. We make it to the admin wing in no time, and I slide to the stop.

"I win." I say, proudly.

"No, I got through the double doors first, so I won." Ruby argues

"But I made it to Ozpin's door first." I snap back

"Fine, but I'm not holding back next time." She says, crossing her arms.

"I won't either then." I say, sticking my tongue out at her.

"What are we here to see Ozpin for?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out pretty quickly." I tell her as I knock lightly on Ozpin's door.

"Come in." He calls from inside.

I open the door and let Ruby go in front of me. Ozpin was sitting behind his desk, sipping from his mug as usual.

We lock eyes, "You know why I'm here." He doesn't respond and Ruby looks between the two of us as the standoff begins.

"I want to know why you invited me to Beacon, and I want the truth."

He stays silent, but puts down his mug, "Sierra, what is this about?" Ruby asks. I don't answer, my gaze still locked with Ozpin's, "I won't ask again, tell me why."

"I wanted to make you a huntress." He responds.

"You and I both know that's a lie. It was to keep me from trying to find Matt and Kurome, the answers you know I need. The invite wasn't your idea, it was the Association's wasn't it?"

"No," He says sternly, "Your invitation was entirely my doing. The Association was not involved."

"But was my reasoning correct?" I ask.

He sighs, "I won't lie and say it wasn't a thought. I know I cannot keep you from getting into trouble, but at least if you're here, I can keep an eye on you."

"You knew being here would keep me from the answers behind my parents deaths."

"Then why haven't you left yet? I'm not keeping you here."

"You know damn well why I haven't left yet. That was another reason wasn't it?"

He goes silent again, "There's always an ulterior motive with you isn't there? I thought I could trust you to be honest with me, but it's clear that was a mistake. Now, I want every crumb the Association has on my brother's case, not a single thing left out."

"I can't just give you those files that's not my jurisdiction."

"Then tell me whose jurisdiction it is." I say, getting up in his face.

Ruby grabs me by the shoulder, "Tell me what this is about now!"

"This is about how Ozpin has held back information about my parents, my siblings, and Roman. Every single lead I've come across somehow leads me back to a missing puzzle piece I know he has. Isn't that right?"

"I would watch your tone."

"Or what you'll fire me? I don't have time for any more of your cover ups. Weiss had finished developing a cure for her mother, which has been stolen by someone who knows alchemy. Everything I've gathered tells me if I find my brother, I find my thief.  
I pull my badge from my back pocket, "I'm not asking for the files for me, I'm asking as an Atlesian agent. Tell me who I need to speak to gain access to the files."

He sighs again, "If you are asking as an agent, I can give you access, but understand the Association will not like you seeing them."

"At this point, I could care less." I growl as he begins typing in his Scroll.

"Sierra…" Ruby says.

"What?!" I turn to her.

"Your eyes…"

I look at the nearby window and see myself reflected in the glass, only my eyes were an odd mixture of red and green.

"I know you're mad, but you're going too far." She says.

Oz stops typing, "I doubt you'll care about what I have to say, but I would like you to hear me out."

"About what?"

"About why I haven't given you these files sooner. A development came up quite recently…" He says as he pulls up an image on his monitor.

I go to ask what before he turns the screen towards me. The image was taken by a security camera from the looks of things, which made it hard for me to pick out what Ozpin wanted me to see until I saw him in the very corner of the picture. It was clearly my brother, in tattered clothes with a book in his arms.

"When and where was this taken?"

"Vale Docks a couple of days ago. I didn't inform you because the trail ends here. Every other camera at the docks didn't catch a glimpse of him, even the one around the next corner. I felt it wrong to get your hopes up if nothing came of it."

"You need to realize very little will ever get my hopes up anymore. My life has been one tragedy after another, and something as simple as a photo doesn't mean anything. Until the day when I see him face to face, he might as well be dead. I've been fed too many lies, especially by people I considered family, to believe anything I don't see with my own eyes."

Ozpin frowned at the family comment, "If you need me, I'll be having a look around the docks. I'd appreciate you giving Ruby those files so she can take them to my room."

"Hey! You think you're going anywhere with your arm in a sling? You told Miss Sonja you would rest." Ruby scolds.

"If you hadn't seen Yang in years, and you finally get a clue where she might be, would you wait a single extra second?"

She bites her lip, "I don't care if my arm is in a sling, I'm going to the docks, whether you come with me or not is up to you."

"I guess I'm coming to make sure you don't do anything stupid." She scoffs.

Ozpin stands, "Sierra, I think you should heed Nurse Sonja's warnings and rest."

"I don't think you have any say in the matter."

"I guess I don't," He says, sinking back into his chair, "though I would hope you would listen to me, not for being your uncle, but being your father's friend."

I turn to face him, and am shocked to see tears in his eyes, "I have made a lot of mistakes, not realizing what had happened to you and your siblings was one of my worst. I failed to keep my promise to your father, and I had certainly not finished what your mother had started. The night you showed up at my doorstep, you couldn't know the joy I felt. It was a chance for me to make things right, and to help you become a huntress like you always told me you wanted to be. If you listen to nothing else I say, that's fine by me, but know that I am and will forever be sorry."

I start crying, "Sorry isn't good enough! All I want is to see my family safe, and for me to be able to trust them! All I want is for you to be honest with me, and to make my parents proud of me!"

"I wasn't strong enough to save them…" I say, falling to my knees, "Every moment since the day my mom died, all I've wanted to to do is make things right. I can't forgive you trying to keep me from doing that."

He walks around his desk and crouches next to me, "That was never my intention. I wanted to do right by your father's final request of me, to keep his children happy and healthy. I'm not going to give you information that could lead you to harm, especially when I'm not the only one concerned about you." He says motioning to Ruby, "Rushing in without knowing what you're up against could get you hurt or worse, so just take it step by step and we can find them. You need to understand you don't have to do this on your own, you can rely on other people, Miss Rose and I included."

"I made these mistakes Ozpin. I have to be the one to fix them."

"Us helping doesn't make fixing your problems any less of an accomplishment. It just helps to speed up the process and keep you from spending the rest of your life trying to atone for your can go to find your answers the moment your arm is healed, but it's not a good idea to get new wounds before old ones heal. Now I want your honest answer to this question, do you trust me?"

I turn around and wrap my arms around his torso, "Yeah, I trust you, but I won't if you continue to keep secrets." I tell him through choked breaths.

"Everyone has secrets, but I will try to make amends for the pain mine have caused you."

He looks at Ruby, "There are some things I need to ask you Miss Rose."

"Ok."

"Do you promise to keep my niece safe?" He asks.

I look up at Oz, "You don't need to…"

"Yes." Ruby replies.

"Will you keep her happy, even on her worst day?"

"Yes."

"If you hurt her, do I have permission to remove you from my academy?"

"Ozpin!" I scream at him.

"Yes. Because if I hurt her, I'll already be gone."

"Good. I didn't get a chance to ask you before with the sudden nature of your relationship. Now, I would like you to see that my niece gets some rest. I can send the files with you, but I doubt she'll get much rest with them around."

"Ain't that the truth," Ruby sighs, "I'll come by later and pick them up after I'm sure she's resting."

"Hey, I'm not a child."

"You're acting like it," Ruby says, "I shouldn't have let you leave the room with your arm like that."  
"I've fought with worse injuries than these."

"I'm sure you have, which is why I'm not forcing you to. I'm telling you it's okay to rest. I tired of seeing you hurting yourself for your friends. We appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but we can do things for ourselves. And it's okay for you to lean on other people, people like me."

"This isn't something someone else can do for me. This is the path I have set myself on, and I'm the one who will see it through."

"I'm not asking for you to let us do it for you, I'm asking you to let us help you get to the end. Isn't that why you've fought so hard? To end the fight so you can go home?"

"This fight will never end!" I yell at her as Ozpin backs away from me, "Until the day I pay for every single soul I took from this world, this is my punishment."

"Headmaster, can you turn away for a moment?"

Ozpin gives her an odd look, but obliges. I go to ask her what that was for before she presses her lips to mine.

"Did you ever think you might have paid enough? It hurts me to see you hurting yourself." She says as pulls away, "Weiss told me about the talk you had, I'm fine with going with you, so long as you are sure you're ready."

"I'm ready as I will ever be, so sign me up I guess."

"Good, now let's get you a bit more to eat and get you to bed." She says, extending her hand.

I take the hand with my automail, and pull myself up. But as I get to my feet, Ruby swipes her leg, taking mine out from under me. I fall for only a moment before she catches me.

I blush, "Why would you do that?"

"You need to rest, so I'm carrying you."

I sigh, but don't struggle as my arm had started throbbing again.

"On second thought, I'll have Professor Goodwitch bring the files by." Ozpin says, facing the two of us, "She's leaving campus later this afternoon and she'll pass by. I expect to be informed if you decide to take any action based on the content in those files."

I yawn, "I'll be sure to let you know Oz."

Ruby walks out with me in her arms, leaving Ozpin alone…

* * *

**Ozpin P.O.V (Third Person)**

Ozpin watches Ruby carry Sierra out in her arms, and can't help the feeling of comfort it gave him to see her being cared for.

"I don't know how you convinced me to let you sit in." Ozpin says as he picks up his mug.

"I don't know what made you think letting her interact with my niece was a good idea." Qrow says as he appears from the shadows. "She is clearly unstable."

"Your niece knew that full well before they had any interactions romanticly. I trust both of their judgements enough to let them be."

"Just understand, should my niece get hurt, I hold you responsible."

"Your niece, ha, I like how you've brought in to your own lie Qrow."

"You know as well as I do there is no way to find out for sure. Summer was gone so fast, I didn't get a chance to find out for sure. Telling Ruby different now would simply make her lose faith in who she is."

"You realize it was neither you or Summer's fault correct? You were both drunk. I'm sure Tai wouldn't blame you."

"I'm always drunk Oz, and I certainly wasn't a lightweight before."

"Wasn't Summer's disappearance the reason that's the case?"

"Ruby is happy without the knowledge I could be her father, so I'm going to let it stay that way."

Qrow sighs, "Looking back, I should have gone with Summer, but Raven convinced me otherwise. Said she could handle going in alone, now Ruby has lived without a mother for most of her life because of me."

"You say my niece is unstable, but from the conversation you just listened to, I'd say you have the same problem."

"I'm aware. You don't think there is a reason I've stayed away from them for this long?"

"Sierra has shown a lot of improvement under Ruby's watch. Your niece knows exactly how deep her wounds run, and she's willing to help them heal."

"Just like her mom…" Qrow sighs as he turn to leave.

"How deep do your wounds run Qrow?"

"Deep enough to hold all the booze." Qrow chuckles, leaving the office with his flask in hand.

"Don't be such a stranger, your niece's would love to see you." Ozpin calls after him.

"That's the problem." Echos back.

" _He's a character, one his niece's adore, but he was never one to settle down, even back before Summer disappeared. I wonder if he'll ever forgive himself, or if he'll ever realize how much he has in common with Sierra._ "

**Sierra P.O.V**

"You still awake?" Ruby asks as she carries me down the hall.

I yawn again, "Barely." I respond sleepily.

"We'll go to the docks first thing tomorrow morning, but we're only looking around. No fighting."

"What if Torchwick shows up?"

"Then I'll fight, and you will find somewhere safe until the fight is over. You have a serious injury, and I would like my girlfriend not to have two prosthetic arms."

"I could fix it you know."

"What?"

"I could get my arm back, if you really wanted me to."

"What would you lose?"

"The ability to do alchemy with my hands, ascension, and James and Shade. No offense to either of them, I'd do it in a heartbeat if you'd be happier."

"You know I wouldn't be. Even if I cared, I would hate you for giving up so much for me to be a little happier."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Do you miss it?"

"My arm?"

"Yes, but more your life before all of it."

"Some days I do, some days I don't, but I won't lie, it was a normal life. Normal was never something I wanted." I say, laying my head up against her torso.

"Tired?"

"Yeah," I respond, blinking to stay awake, "It's been a long day."

"It has, now go to sleep."

And with her permission, I black out, letting myself fall into a deep sleep.


	23. The Secrets Long Kept

Waking up with a splitting headache isn't high on my list for a good start to the day.

"Urgh…" I groan, rolling onto my side.

"You okay?" I hear Ruby say.

"I feel awful…" I tell her, trying to get my bearings.

"Thought you might. Here's some aspirin." She responds, her quiet footsteps padding over to me.

I try to sit up only to have my arm throb. I grit my teeth and slowly lower myself back down into my sheets.

"You really shouldn't have been up at all yesterday. The stress has really gotten to you."

"My arm is the problem…"

"Not true," She says in a matter of fact tone, "I had Nurse Sonja come by after you passed out. Seems like your arm isn't the only injury…"

"What else is there?"

"A small fracture at the base of your skull, symptoms including nausea, drowsiness, and loss of appetite. Nothing your aura won't heal, but only if you're resting."

"But I need to…"

"No buts. I understand you want to go to the docks as soon as possible, but this is too serious to ignore."

"I can't let this lead go cold." I tell her as I try to sit up again.

She pushes me back onto the bed, "I know that's why Yang and I are going to the docks to look around. Since I know you, I'm going to leave the files Ozpin left for you on my nightstand. If for some reason you can't sleep, then you can look them over while you're in bed."

"Ruby, I'm…"

"If you say fine, I'm taking the files with me and you can look them over when I get back. Just so you know, Weiss found a psychiatrist, she is waiting for your approval before she schedules the appointment."

"I didn't think she would find one so quickly…" I say, finally able to sit up and reach the aspirin Ruby had laid next to me.

"From the looks of things, I don't think she went to sleep last night."

"She stayed up all night to find me a psychiatrist?"

"That may have been part of it, but she also had her notes from yesterday's detective work."

"Then why isn't she going with you?"

"Because she has no idea they are related. Yang doesn't either, I told her Ozpin asked me to look around the area we fought a couple months back."

"Has it really been that long? It feels like only yesterday I asked you out."

She blushes at my comment, "I asked you first, but yeah it has been that long. I can't believe the dance is this weekend."

I start choking on the water Ruby had given me to help get the aspirin down.

"Are you okay? Was it something I said?" She asks.

I regain my composure, "The dance is this weekend?" I ask quietly.

"Angel Sierra Grey! I can't believe you forgot!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I've had a lot on my plate!"

"I guess Yang and I can go dress shopping while we're in Vale." She sighs, clearly disappointed in me.

"I'll have to go out and get one at some point. I don't think the one I have will fit me anymore."

"Can I see the one you have? I wonder if it would fit me."

"I doubt it, but help me get up and I'll show you."

She extends her hand, and I pull myself to a standing position, "Ok… My headache is worse while standing." I say, steadying myself against the bed.

"Here, lean on me." Ruby offers, putting her arm under my injured one.

"You can let go now." I tell her as I get stable footing.

I take one step and instantly feel nauseous, "Oh…" I grunt, clutching my stomach.

"Do you feel like…" She asks.

"Yes," I interrupt, "Help..."

"Do I need to carry you?"

"No, but I need something to steady myself against."

She hooks her arm around my automail, and we hobble to the bathroom. I practically fall onto the toilet as I lose yesterday's lunch. Ruby sits by me, holding my hair with one hand and rubbing the small of my back with the other. I finally cough up the last of it and slump to the floor, shivering from the cold touch of the tile.

"Feel better?" Ruby asks as she stands.

"A bit." I respond, forcing myself to a sitting position.

"Ready to try this again?" She says, extending her hand.

"What if I say no?" I grin.

"Then I'll leave your beautiful butt on the bathroom floor."

I giggle a bit, "I'm ready."

She pulls me up and I stumble for a second before I get proper footing.

"You okay?" She asks.

"Yeah." I say, "The dress is in my closet."

She all but carries me to the other side of the room. I pull open the doors and shuffle through my various outfits, "I would love to see you in some of these." She says seductively.

I blush, "Here's the dress," I say, trying to change the subject.

"This is so beautiful!" She exclaims, "Where did you get this?"

"It was my mom's prom dress," I tell her, running my fingers over the fabric, "It would've fit me too if I hadn't gotten those couple inches from James."

"It's a shame, it would've looked gorgeous on you."

My blush returns, "Thanks… I guess you need to get going." I say putting the dress back in its place.

"I'm curious." Ruby says, "How do you have your mom's prom dress when your house burned down?"

"It was in the basement along with her wedding dress. From what I remember, she told me she kept them both because my dad bought them for her. They were the only dresses she had ever owned."

"Was she poor growing up?"

"Neither of my parents talked about their childhood. Even if they had, it would have been a lie like everything else they told me." I say with a frown.

"You don't know that…" Ruby says, sitting down on the corner of my bed.

"It's not like I could ask them." I say, picking up the only picture I had left of my family, my mother's face missing from the image.

"What is it like?" Ruby asks earnestly, "Missing your entire family?"

"It's like… there's a void in my heart that can never be filled. I won't ever see my mom's smile again, or the spark of mischief in my dad's eyes. Hear my brother laugh or my sister giggle. Even after all these years, all I've ever wanted is to see my mom smile again." I say, my hand pressed against the picture's frame.

"I know the feeling…" She responds, her hand around her locket.

"You said you didn't like wearing your mom's locket."

"I like to wear it on occasion, just to remember her."

"What does wearing it make you remember about her?"

"Her smile more than anything," She pulls on her cloak, "This makes me remember her holding me in her arms, or the times she would make cookies and a bit of flour would get on her sleeves. The best mom I could have asked for."

"My mom was the same. No matter what my problem was, she was always willing to help me. From tying my shoes to teaching me how to fly, nothing was beyond help."

"What's learning to fly like?"

"It's like learning a second way to walk. It becomes reflex so quickly, and it's just… liberating."

"I'd love to be able to, but I assume it's a little difficult without wings."

"Knowing you, you'd find a way."

A light blush coats her cheeks, "We both flatter each other too much."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"I guess not. I'm still not used to the compliments."

"We'll both get used to it. It'll take a while, maybe an engagement ring and a vow or two."

She punched me lightly in the arm, "So are you going to propose or am I?"

I shrug, "Whoever gets to it first. Though my requirement for saying yes is that the line has to be super cheesy."

"How cheesy?"

"Yang's puns level cheesy."

"How about… Roses are red, violets are blue, I want to get married, will you say I do?"

I burst out laughing, rolling onto my hurt arm by accident, "Ow, ow, ow." I squeak, still smiling.

Ruby snickers as I roll back onto my side, "Would you have said yes?"

"Definitely, that was really cheesy and thoughtful at the same time."

"I'll have to come up with a better one now that I spoiled that one."

"We should talk like this more often."

"I'll admit, just talking with you is a good time for me."

"I'm glad," I tell her, "You'd better get going if you're going to the docks and dress shopping."

"Ok. I'll be back as soon as I can." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

I lay down, "Do you mind handing me those files before you go?"

She walks over and grabs them, "Here you go. I'll have Weiss bring lunch by if I'm not back in time."

"Thanks, love you." I say, sitting up to kiss her on the cheek as she turns to leave.

"Tell me when Weiss gets your appointment set up. I'll have to make sure nothing important is going on in class."

"I will." I tell her as she closes the door behind herself.

I look at the folder she left in my hands, " _Could this have some of the answers I've been searching for?_ " I think as I open the folder with shaky hands. Inside were several AHH documents detailing the status of the case.

* * *

**Case open: Investigation into the disappearance of Atlesian General Grey's children**

_**Status:** _

**Matthew Grey: Missing**

**Angel Sierra Grey: Under the care of Beacon Headmaster Ozpin**

**Catherine Kurome Grey: Missing**

_**Case Priority:** _ **Low**

_**Current Leads:** _ **Image taken at Vale docks 72 ago**

_**Potential Suspects:** _ **N/A**

* * *

" _I guess Oz wasn't lying when he said that there hadn't been any leads until that picture. If there aren't any leads then what are the rest of these files?"_

I look through the other papers to find two Beacon applications, one labeled Jonathan, the other labeled Angel.

" _No… These can't be…_ "

The images on both confirmed my thought, these were my parent's applications to Beacon. On further inspection, the documents seemed to be missing key information. Birth dates, Home address, Parent's signature, all things that should have caused the applications to be rejected. But near the bottom of both papers was a stamp and signature, "ADMINISTRATIVE OVERRIDE: Peter Port Sr."

I was shocked, " _Port is the one who let my parents into Beacon? He has to know something, but why didn't Oz just tell me?"_

Then I notice the Sr and realize that it wasn't the Port I know, it was his father.

" _What does all of this mean?"_ I have to ask myself, " _What's this?_ " I say, pulling a small note from the back of the folder.

" _Sierra,"_ the note read, " _You were right about my holding information from you, but I didn't hold it from you for the reason you suspect. I held it from you because I couldn't admit to myself that I couldn't solve this puzzle on my own. I've had these pieces for a long time, but couldn't figure out how they fit together. It was wrong of me to keep this from you, and wish you luck on figuring out what I could not. From here, I cannot help you further, for fear of the Association questioning my intentions with such old information. Be careful, you never know who is watching." -Oz_

" _Well this isn't much, but it's better than nothing. I guess talking to Port is my first priority, but I guess I should follow Nurse Sonja's advice and get some rest."_

I place the files back in the folder, and let my eyelids droop closed. I open my eyes after what feels like just moments and sit up.

" _What the hell?_ " I think as I look around the room.

Minus the bed, my room was completely empty, no furniture, no clothes in my closet, not even lights in the fixtures.

" _James, are you seeing this?_ " I ask, but there is no response.

I slide out of bed, and notice my headache was completely gone. Pacing towards the door, I look back to see the room behind me disappearing. The walls collapsing inward as I reach the door. I start to type in my passcode to leave, only to have the pad vanish as I'm typing. Slamming my automail into the lock, I pry the door open, jumping from the doorway as the room almost shatters behind me.

" _Ok...still have no idea what's going on...but I hope this is a dream._ "

I keep walking down the hall, peering into rooms to see them just as empty as my own, before watching them fade like mine had. I reach the edge of the first year dorms, the wall seals itself behind me, but then the collapse stops and I keep walking down towards the library.

" _This is honestly so creepy, everything looks the same, but it's different somehow."_

Someone runs past me, their cloak hauntingly familiar…

"Ruby!" I call out, running after the figure, "Wait!"

The figure keeps moving, not acknowledging I had said anything. I chase after her, not able to use my aura to close the gap between us. Then we reach the double door entrance to the library and she stops just inside the doors.

"Ruby, what's going on around…" I say as I go to place my hand on her shoulder, only to fall through her, "here."

Then I realized that it wasn't Ruby I was following, it was Summer!

I stand up, passing through Summer, " _I'm at Beacon when Summer was. That explains the dorm disappearing since they only got put in a couple years ago, but nothing explains how I'm here."_

"Hey Summer!" An all too familiar voice calls out, "Over here."

Summer and I both turn to the source of the voice and I can't believe my eyes. There, sitting at one of the tables, is a younger version of my mother.

"Angel, it's been a while." Summer replies, taking a seat next to my mom

"You're the one who's constantly on missions, Miss Grimm Reaper." My mom responds with the same smirk I use.

"I still can't believe I got an award with that title, and it wasn't even that many Grimm."

"It was enough to impress the staff, which I'm sure is quite a few. How have you been?"

"I'm well, but I can't say that for my team though."

"Is something wrong?"

"Raven and Tai are...involved, and Qrow isn't pleased about his sister being a relationship. The dorm is practically a war zone if the three of them are in the room together."

"I don't know what to say about that one. Jamie and Ana have never had a problem with me and Jonathan's relationship. Though neither of them are my siblings, so I don't know how that feels."

" _Jamie?! The person in the room next to Weiss' mom? They couldn't be the same person, Jamie is the leader of Team JINX..._ "

"I still think you and Jamie would have been a cute couple." Summer says, "Angel Oran has a nice ring to it."

My mom shrugs, "Eh, Jonathan and I just had more in common I guess. You need to take some time off missions to find your someone special."

"I think I'll find someone eventually, no need to rush things."

"We're only a year and a half away from graduating Summer, live a little. You and I should go out this weekend to catch up."

"I've already got another mission scheduled. I'm trying to break the record for mission hours."

"Summer... What am I going to do with you?" My mom says, her hand on her forehead.

"You're going to come with me to Vale to do some shopping since we have the day off?" Summer smirks.

"Can't, today is team training day and I skipped the last one, so unless I want to sleep on the floor, no shopping for me."

"I'm not exactly surprised with the punishment, sounds like something Jonathan would come up with…"

"It was Ana's idea actually. She came up with an entire rule book after she walked in on Jonathan and I."

"Walked in on you?"

"Kissing," She says before Summer glares at her, "Heavy kissing." She finishes.

I cringe a bit from that thought, but my mom's scroll rings, "Hello? Hey hun what's up? I know I'm late, I was just catching up with Summer. Tell Ana I'll make it up to her. Thanks."

She stands and puts her arms out, "Welp that's me in the dog house, but catching up with you was worth it."

Summer meets the hug in the middle, "How about next weekend? I'm free if you are."

"I'm free as of right now, so let's hope that doesn't change. See ya Summer!" My mom says, running off towards the training arena.

The scene fades into shadow, leaving Summer and I as the only things in sea of black.

"So you're the one showing me this?" I ask, hoping for some answers.

"Not exactly," Summer replies, "I'm providing the memories, but something else is showing you."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I think it will begin to once you have a few more pieces, but even then the puzzle will still be far from complete."

"Can we stop with the fucking puzzle metaphor already? I never wanted this, and all I could wish for is to have it stop. I want to live my life with Ruby, find my siblings, and be a normal huntress."

"That sounds like a pretty mundane life."

"Mundane is better than mental torment, physical pain, and the burden I put on Ruby."

"You really think you are a burden to her?"

"She gives up so much for me, she's skipped class on multiple occasions because of me, cried over me, and is willing to put herself in serious danger to protect me. I'm too broken to be fixed, so she should stop wasting her time."

"Then why haven't you told her that?"

"Because…"

"Because you know she might be the only one who can fix you, and she won't give up on you."

"I'm just her problem…"

"I think she would tell you differently. I know my daughter wouldn't purposefully burden herself with something that is beyond her help. As long as you have hope that you can get better, she will be with you every step of the way."

"I just want to hear her say that…"

"If you need her to say it, she's not doing a good enough job. Is her being there not enough?"

My head droops, "She deserves someone better…"

She walks over and looks me in the eyes, "I think it's time for you to wake up and talk to Ruby yourself."

"So how do I wake up?"

"Like this." She says

I was about to ask what she meant before she punches her arm through my chest. I taste the blood fill my mouth, and I wake up clutching my chest where Summer's arm had gone through me. I touch my face and feel a liquid cover my hand. I look in my bedside mirror, and I had bitten my lip while I was "asleep."

A knock sounds from the door, "Sierra, Ruby asked me to bring you lunch…"

"You can come in." I call, still out of breath.

She opens the door and sees my expression, "Is something wrong?"

"The experience I just had. I don't even know how to describe it." I say, panting.

"What happened?"

"I saw Beacon in the past, before this wing was added. I saw my mom and Ruby's talking about their teams. Then Summer...killed me to wake me up."

"That sounds like you were hallucinating."

"That's what I thought at first, but Summer said some things that match with what Ozpin has been telling me. Either way, I need to go talk to Port." I say, sliding out of bed.

"You are not going anywhere with your head wound. Ruby's orders."

"Weiss, his father knew my parents. I have to know where they came from, to see if I have any family left."

"I know the feeling Sierra, but you've waited this long, waiting just for a little longer won't hurt you."

I sigh, "If I go, will you stop me?"

"No, but I will tell Ruby the moment she gets back."

I groan, "Fine! I'll stay in bed."

"Good," She smirks, "Now, I didn't know what you wanted, so I got you a little bit of everything."

"I'm not hungry. I bit my lip in my sleep, and the blood ruined my appetite." I say, pulling the blankets over me.

"At least drink something to get the taste out of your mouth." She says, handing me a small glass.

I smell the liquid, "Is this alcohol?"

"No, yours is some ginger ale. I'm having a bit of hard cider"

"I'm assuming that didn't come from the cafeteria?"

"Everyone has their niches, mine happens to be exotic beverages."

"Exotic?"

"It's some of Vacuo's signature cider, had it imported to add to my collection."

"I hope you didn't start that collection too early." I say, downing my drink.

"Only a year ago. Thought I might as well use being immune to the law to my advantage." She says, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You had better not end up an alcoholic before you're legally able to drink."

"I don't drink very often and when I do choose to have some, it's in very small amounts."

"I won't comment on my own drinking habits." I say, handing my cup back to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about? I drank to forget, to try and wash away what I had done."

"When was the last time you drank?"

"About a year ago. Long before Beacon, if that's why you're asking."

She grins, "What kind of drunk are you?"

"I said that I drank, not that I got drunk. With how fast my metabolism is, it's actually quite hard for me to get drunk."

"Really? Your metabolism is that fast?"

"It has to be for me to keep enough energy while I'm flying. I burn more calories in a ten minute flight than normal people do in an hour long workout."

"So that's why you're always in such great shape?"

"Yup, a twenty minute flight every day I can fit it into my schedule and I'm fit as a fiddle." I say, flexing my normal arm.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

I blink a bit and look my arm over, "No...it doesn't."

"Is your head healed too?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, but I don't know if it's healed fully. Does this mean you'll let me go talk to Port?"

"Not unless you get the okay from Nurse Sonja."

"If you call her down here, I'll let her check it. Her number is in my scroll's contact list."

Weiss picks up my scroll and types out a quick message, "She says she will be down shortly."

"I think I'll take a shower before she gets here." I say, standing up and stretching.

"Are you sure you're not hungry? Ruby said you hadn't eaten all day."

"I'll grab something later, maybe take Ruby out to dinner."

"She said she wouldn't be back till late. She and Yang decided they should both get a new dress for the dance, and were going to miss the next airship back."

"Any chance she sent you a picture of said dress?"

"She may have, but she doesn't want you to see it until the dance."

"You, Blake, and I are going to have to go dress shopping at some point."

"I planned ahead and already have mine, not like it matters…"

"Has no one asked you to the dance Weiss?"

"Jaune asked me, but…"

"You know what I meant Weiss, has anyone you're interested in asked you?"

"That's the problem, I'm not really interested in anyone."

"Now Weiss, you should know you can't lie to me. I know you too well."

"You're right… I met someone."

"Really?" I ask inquisitively.

"She's a part of Team EMBR, her name is Bella."

"Is she cute?"

"I mean, she's mute…"

My eyes widen, "How did you find that out?"

"She had dropped some books in the library, and I went to help her. I asked her where she needed the books and she had to write it out."

"So why don't you ask her to the dance?"

"What?! Are you crazy? I don't even know if she likes girls, let alone me."

"Then just ask if she wants to go as friends, see if you can figure it out as you go."

"You don't just ask a friend to a couple's dance Sierra. I get you weren't a social person when you were younger, but I was a Schnee. I had to attend every party, formal, or dinner my father deemed necessary. I will not risk a friendship for the slim chance she's into girls and the even smaller chance that she actually likes me."

"But it's been eating away at you, hasn't it?"

Weiss looks startled, "How did you…"

I was so set on giving Weiss my advice, I didn't hear the door open behind me, "Because I spent the entire first semester here wanting the exact same thing. I had to watch her get shot through the ribs before I finally got the nerve to tell her my feelings. I thought I was too late that I missed my chance to tell Ruby how I felt. Without Ascension, Ruby would have died, and my worst fears would have been realized. We're huntresses Weiss, you never know what tomorrow will bring, whether you'll come back from a mission, so don't let this be something you regret. I don't know what I would do if Ruby never came back from a mission, if I never got to tell her I love her one last time or see her in a wedding dress. If you like Bella, tell her."

"Sierra…" A timid voice calls from behind me.

I turn to see Ruby with tears running down her face, "Weiss said you wouldn't be back until later."

Yang steps out from behind her, "We thought we would miss the airship flight back, but we managed to make it just in time. I'm glad, if we'd been a minute later, we would have missed that speech."

I blush, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough…" Ruby chokes out.

I grit my teeth, "I made you cry again…I promised myself I wouldn't let that happen."

She walks over to me, and wraps her arms around me, "I love you…" She says, her head pressed into my neck.

"I love you too."

"How soon do you want to see me in that wedding dress?" She mumbles.

I go an even darker shade of red, "Umm…"

She kisses me on the cheek, "You get embarrassed so easily."

"I guess I have you to thank for bringing out that side of me."

We stand in the embrace for a moment, "Ahem…" Yang coughs.

"Sorry." Ruby sputters out before looking me in the eyes, "You're out of bed! Weiss, I thought…"

"Sierra said her arm and head weren't hurting anymore, so I let her get up after she said she wanted a shower. I called Nurse Sonja to verify her injuries are completely healed before I let her leave the room. With that being said, she'll be here soon, so if she wants to shower before she gets here she needs to shower now."

I kiss Ruby on the forehead, "With luck, Nurse Sonja will say I'm okay and we can go on a dinner date."

Ruby pouts, "That sounds...nice, but only if Nurse Sonja gives you a clean bill of health."

"I've got a feeling she will," I say, grabbing a set of clothes and a towel from my closet, "I want to stop by Port's office before dinner though."

"Why?"

"I want to talk to him about an assignment I missed while in Atlas." I lie, not sure if the truth was worth explaining.

I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, "Tell Nurse Sonja I'll be out shortly if she gets here."

I turn on the water and strip, leaving me nude, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

" _I look just like my mom did when she was here. I wonder if she would be proud of me…"_

I step under the stream of warm water and let my shoulders relax. The heat melting away the stress of the past two days. I press my hand to the scar left from the hole Yang had made in my shoulder, the small line barely visible against my pale skin.

" _I really need a tan. I look like a vampire with how pale I've gotten, but I still have more of a tan than Weiss._ " I think, grinning.

I lather my hands and drag the bubbles through my hair, pulling through the knots that had formed from my troubled sleep.

" _Ugh, I need to get my hair styled properly before the dance. Another thing to add to my to-do list._ "

I rinse the suds from my hair and grab for the soap. I pick up the soap, only to have blood run over my fingers. I jerk my hand back, letting the soap fall to the floor. I blink and the blood is gone, a quick glance at the soap shows no sign of the gore.

" _Am I hallucinating?_ "

I stand there frozen, trying to calm myself down. Taking a deep breath, I run a washcloth over my legs. The sensation soothing my worries, if only for a moment. I slide the cloth over my shoulder and push it over my wings. I grit my teeth as I realize the fur covering my wings had become matted down, and I would have to pull it out before I could wash it. I step out of the shower and open the sink cabinet to grab the brush I use for my fur.

"You...killed...me…" My mother's corpse calls from the shadow in the cabinet.

I jump away from the vision, and slip, slamming down onto the floor

_Knock...Knock_

"Sierra," Ruby calls, "Are you okay?"

"Help…" I respond through unsteady breaths.

"Are you decent?"

"No...just help…" I say, holding my head with my eyes clamped shut.

I hear the door open, and light footsteps pad over to me. I feel a towel wrap around me, and two arms slip under me. Ruby lifts me effortlessly, and I lay my head on her chest.

"I'm so sorry…" I sob, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you Mom…"

"Sierra, I need you to tell me what happened." Nurse Sonja's voice filters through the haze.

"I'm seeing things. There was blood in the shower, and then my mom's body was in the sink cabinet."

"I need you to open your eyes." She tells me.

I let my hands fall from my face, and look around the room. Worried faces stare back at me. Weiss, Yang, Nurse Sonja, Ruby, all looking at me. I blush, knowing how vulnerable I must look, shaking in a towel.

"Your pupils seem dilated, has anything like this happened before?"

"I have episodes, but nothing that...graphic. At least, not while I'm awake."

"And you've never seen a psychiatrist?"

"I saw one awhile back, and the medicine made my nightmares worse…"

"Did you tell them that?"

I gulp, "No, I just cut short my sessions."

She sighs, "Medications interact differently with some people. If you had told them, I'm sure they would have prescribed you something else. From the sounds of it, you haven't had the easiest life, but doctors are not the enemy. Now onto your physical ailments…"

She looks at my arm, "Any pain?" She asks as she moves my arm around.

I nod no, and she continues to my neck, "No sign of the fracture, any lingering headache?"

I once again nod no, "Well, I see nothing physically wrong. I would recommend some rest to be certain all your injuries have healed properly. After which, a meeting with a psychiatrist to see the best way to move forward."

"I've made it this far without help. I don't think it would be that hard to keep going without it." I say, pushing myself from Ruby's arms.

"Sierra, you agreed to…" Weiss says.

"I don't care what I agreed to." I growl, "I shouldn't have let Ozpin fool me with those files. They are all lies, and I need to find the truth."

"Sierra…" Ruby says, reaching for my face.

"No!" I yell, slapping her hand away, "You won't stop me!"

Ruby's eyes widened, "You hit me…"

I freeze, "No...No..this isn't…I said I wouldn't…"

I shake my head as the room begins to warp in front of me. The only thing left in the room is me and my mother's corpse. It tries to get close, but I back as far away from her as I can. "Stay back," I say, reaching into my closet and pulling the pistol I had stashed away, "I won't ask again."

"Why do you want me gone? So you can forget what you did?"

"No, I just want to move on, but I could never forget what I did, how I failed you."

"Just use that pistol on yourself, then we can be together and I will forgive you."

I growl, "I know you're not her! My mother wouldn't want her sacrifice to be in vain, and even if my mother forgave me, I would never forgive myself for hurting Ruby by dying. I can't leave her no matter how scared of my past I am."

"How honorable of you, too bad it won't matter." The thing snarls. It charges me, and I go to pull the trigger...

"Sierra I'm sorry about this…" Yang's voice filters through the haze.

"Wha…" I go to ask before everything fades to black.

* * *

**Ruby P.O.V**

"YANG! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" I scream at her as she wipes my girlfriend's blood off her hand.

"Two things, one, she hit you, two, her eyes were green and I don't think she was in control. I knocked her out to keep her from firing the gun."

Nurse Sonja inspects the damage, "What do you mean by she wasn't in control?" She asks.

I respond, "Sierra has an alternate personality, and whenever her eyes turn green the other personality is in control. She said she's never had a problem keeping it in check, but now I'm not so sure."

"That may not be the case," Nurse Sonja remarks, "Considering how dilated her pupils were, I'd say it's more like she was drugged. Something dulled her senses just enough for this other personality to slip through."

She starts looking Sierra over, "I can't say for sure, but she doesn't appear to have anything worse than a broken nose."

My eyes turn to Weiss, "Did you give her something?"

"No, she didn't eat anything I brought from the cafeteria, so unless they drugged all the ginger ale in the cafeteria, I have no idea."

"What else could it be?" Yang asks.

"She started hallucinating and getting angry after she got out of the shower, so it might be something in there." I say, taking the lead.

I walk into the bathroom and survey the scene. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except for one thing…

"The shampoo bottle has been opened," I say, "The lid has indents in it."

"Are you sure Sierra didn't open it it?"

"Unless she did it in her sleep, it didn't have the indent before I left for Vale."

"She hasn't been awake all day as far as I'm aware."

I pick up the bottle and twist off the lid to find a small vial attached to the bottom.

"Someone drugged my girlfriend…" I growl, placing the lid back onto the bottle, "I need to know who did this."

"I suggest we call Headmaster Ozpin, he'll want to know what's going on." Nurse Sonja comments.

A knock sounds from the door, "Sierra, I need to speak with you." A familiar voice calls.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," I say, going to answer the door.

"Hello Headmaster."

"Miss Rose, I need to speak to Miss Grey. There was an intruder…"

"We found that out," moving to the side so he could see Sierra limp on her bed, "Someone drugged Sierra's shampoo. She nearly shot my sister while she was hallucinating."

"Is there any of the drug left for us to analyze?"

"Unless the shampoo diluted it, there should be some left in the bottle." I say, handing him the container.

"Is she okay?" Ozpin asks, his eyes expressing his concern.

"None of her injuries are substantial," Nurse Sonja chimes in, "With how strong her aura is, I would say she'll be awake in a minute or two."

"Vale police and General Ironwood's men are locking down the campus as we speak. Whoever did this is not going to get away."

"Ow." A voice croaks from the bed.

"Sierra!," I yelp, running to her side, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got sucker punched by an Ursa. What happened?" Sierra asks.

"Someone drugged your shampoo after breaking into the room. Yang knocked you out to stop you from shooting at us."

Yang comes and looks Sierra dead in the eyes, "Just so you know, if you ever point a gun at my sister ever again, one punch is the least of your worries."

"Yang," I sigh, "She just woke up, save the sisterly protection talk for later."

"Fine, I'll be in our dorm if you need me. C'mon Weiss" She pouts, storming out of the room, dragging Weiss with her.

Sierra looks at Ozpin, "How did you know someone broke in?"

"One of the security guards noticed it on the camera feed about half an hour ago." Ozpin responds, "The campus is locked down to prevent their escape."

"Something tells me that isn't going to work. Whoever it was, I've met them before. Even in my sleep, my aura constantly sweeps the area around me. If there is any unknown or something I had previously deemed a threat, it would wake me up." Sierra explains.

"So we're dealing with a previous acquaintance of yours?"

"Potentially, but I don't know who would have it out for me enough to come to Beacon when they know Ironwood is here for the tournament."

"Unless they were already here," I comment, "and knew they weren't at risk drugging you. If we weren't here to stop you, you would have stumbled around the school, making Ironwood and Ozpin lose their faith in you."

"If you had been seen roaming around the school on substances, I would have revoked your teaching privileges immediately, no questions asked."

"So it was me they were after." Sierra sighs, "I shudder to think what would have happened if you had taken a shower before you had left for Vale Ruby."

"For now, I think it would be best if you have someone with you at all times, just in case something were to happen." Ozpin states, "I assume Miss Rose wouldn't be opposed to being volunteered?"

"I think I could manage that. So is she clear to go Nurse Sonja?"

"As long as there is no strenuous activity, she is clear to go."

"I think we should get you something to eat."

"I mean...I'm not really…" She starts before a loud growl interrupts her.

She blushes, "Not hungry huh?" I ask.

"I guess I could use something to eat."

"Since you said something about it earlier we can stop by Port's office on the way."

Ozpin locks eyes with Sierra, "Be careful, and be sure Miss Rose knows what she's getting into."

"Ok, see you Oz." Sierra replies.

Ozpin ushers Nurse Sonja out, leaving Sierra and me alone.

She rushes over to me, crushing me in a hug, "I'm so sorry I hit you…"

"You slapped my hand while drugged. Did you think I would be mad about that?"

"You should be…"

"Can you stop blaming yourself for things out of your control? If I'm allowed not to say sorry every time I hit a sensitive topic, you can stop blaming yourself every time something like this happens."

"Ok, but I need to talk with you." She says, sitting down on her bed, "Something weird happened while you were in Vale. When I went to sleep, I had a dream of Beacon while my mom and Summer were here. After the dream was over, Summer and I talked, she said that the dream was her memories being shown to me by something. The memories confirmed my suspicions that my dad knew your mom. Their teams are kind of like us and JNPR. Everything is pointing to my parent's acceptance to Beacon as the biggest clue, and Professor Port's father is the one who approved their applications even though they were missing quite a bit of important information. That's why I want to go talk to him."

"So we're trying to find out more about your parents?"

"Yes. I have to find out why they lied about so much. I need the truth."

"Sierra, maybe this isn't the right way to look at it."

"What do you mean?"

"They must have had their reasons for keeping the truth from you. Is it right for you to try and undermine that?"

"Ruby, how is this any different from you wanting to find out what happened to your mom?"

"It...is not, but…"

"Then you have no right to comment. It's just something I need to know. It could lead me to the people who killed them."

"Ok then, let's go talk to Port."

* * *

**Sierra P.O.V**

We walk to Port's classroom in silence, the divide between us very apparent.

"I'm sorry for what I said," I say, "I'm just…"

"Frustrated? Angry?"

"Tired of being led in circles. Tired of a puzzle being the best way to describe my life."

"You and me both. I just want some straight answers about my mom's death."

"I feel like all of this is connected, and that if I get my answers, it'll lead us to your answers."

"I feel like asking Ozpin what he knows, but I doubt I would get much out of him."

"I can go with you when you ask. He owes me a favor."

"You don't have to waste a favor with Ozpin just so I can ask him for answers he might not have."

"Eh, I've wasted favors with him for less."

"Let's talk to Port, then I'll think about letting you waste a favor."

I open the door for her, "Hey Professor, I need to talk with you." I call out.

"I figured you'd come eventually." He says without the usual bravado in his voice.

"Are you okay Professor?"

"I'm about to bring my father back into a mess he didn't sign up for in the first place, so no, I'm not."

"I need to speak with him…"

"I had a feeling you would say that," He comments, having already dialed the phone, "He knows who you are, but an introduction wouldn't hurt."

I hold the receiver to my ear, my hand shaking ever so lightly until Ruby laces her hand with my own. I listen to the dial tone, once, twice, then, "Hello," Comes from the other end of the line.

"Hello Mr…"

"Dr." He corrects

"Dr. Port, my name is Sierra Grey and I've been told you know some things about my parents."

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Who were my parents on a team with?"

"Up until their final year, your father and mother were on a team with Jamie Oran and Ana Moore."

"Up until their final year?"

"During the first semester of their final year, Ana disappeared. To this day, none of us know where she went, or why she left. I was the last person to see her, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was my lack of information as to her whereabouts that got me dismissed from Beacon. After that, your parents became partners and Jamie joined the former team OINX who had lost their leader to a mission gone wrong the year before."

"I've seen my parents files. Why were they allowed admission to Beacon with so much missing information?"

He sighs, "My son tells me you're one of our best and brightest, why would the association want students like that?"

I knew the answer right away, "A student with no guardian wouldn't be missed if they disappeared, or if they died in a botched mission."

"Bingo. Your parent's team was the AHH's suicide squad. Every single one of them had no recorded guardians or home addresses. It let the AHH have a completely expendable asset. Anything too dangerous for your average team, any mission no hunter wanted apart of, or anything the AHH wanted off the record was given straight to them. Team AJJA."

"Ana, the one who disappeared, did they ever find her?"

"Nope, though I assume that's the point. She left of her own accord; otherwise, she would have made it known she was in trouble."

"What can you tell me about them?"

"Your parents? Both of them were outstanding warriors, fine people, and a great example of love at first sight. The two of them were made for each other."

"Did they ever tell you anything about their families?"

"Your mother never spoke about her family, even to your father from what he told me. He wasn't as tight lipped about where he came from, but never used any names. He told me he was from a small town in the Atleasian mountains. His family wasn't keen on him leaving the country to attend school, they wanted him to go Atlas' academy, return home and marry. He refused and left for Beacon on his own. He told me it took him 12 days in the freezing cold to make it to Inner Atlas to get a flight to Vale."

"Is there anyone who would know more than you about them?"

"Jamie. After the years they spent together as teammates, they trusted him with everything. He was even your father's best man for his wedding."

I grit my teeth, "Thank you, I think I should be able to find out more on my own."

"I wish you the best of luck Miss Grey, and tell Jamie I said hello if you ever track him down."

I set the phone down, and let go of Ruby's hand, "DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!" I say, slamming my fist into the wall over and over again.

"Something you didn't want to hear?" Ruby say, watching me vent.

I stop punching, "The only person who might know where my parents come from is in a coma in an Atlas hospital room."

"Jamie?"

"I can't believe this, another circle, another dead end. I just..."

"You went looking for answers, were you not expecting this?" Port interrupts.

"I totally expected this, but I hoped, just this one time, I might get a solid lead. That life would not screw me over this one...fucking...time." I say, punching the wall three more times.

Ruby grabs my hand before it can impact the wall for the fourth time, "You can't let this discourage you. You might be down, but you're not out. We can figure this out, and we can find out everything you want to know about your parents."

"Let's just go back to the dorm, I'm not hungry anymore." I say, brushing past her.

"I wish you luck on your mission Miss Grey." Port calls out.

"Thank you, Professor. And umm...if you could avoid telling Ozpin about my conduct after talking to your father…"

He smiles, "I'm not sure what you're talking about. Though I might remember if I don't see you in tomorrow's class."

I smile back, "I appreciate it, and I will as long as I'm not finishing CRFY's training."

Ruby and I walk out of Port's classroom, and someone runs past the two of us, nearly knocking Ruby down, "Hey! Watch where you're going!" I yell at them.

The figure turns back for a moment, and she mouths the word sorry before running off.

"Wait!" I call after her, "You're Bella right?"

She turns back and signs to me, " _Yes, you're the teacher who is also a student right? How did you know my name?_ "

"One of my students Weiss mentioned your team might be a good candidate for my next class. She had nothing but good things to say about you."

She blushes, and quickly signs another sentence, " _I'm flattered._ "

Ruby pulls on my sleeve, "C'mon I want you to get a proper night's rest. You and Blake are going dress shopping tomorrow."

"Ok," I tell her, "It was nice to meet finally meet you, Bella."

Ruby and I turn to leave before Bella taps me on the shoulder, " _I'm not sure if I can ask you this...how well do you know Weiss?_ "

"I've known her for a long time, why do you ask?"

" _Would she be...offended if I asked her to the dance?"_

"As a friend?"

She blinks a bit, " _Of course._ " She responds, looking a bit down.

I lean over to her, "I don't think she would mind if you asked her as more than a friend, but asking as a friend wouldn't hurt either." I whisper.

She shakes her head, " _I don't know if she would…_ " She signs.

"I've got a weird feeling she'll say yes either way, but it's up to you."

She sets her jaw, " _Ok. I'll think about it._ "

"Don't wait too long, or she won't be expecting to go. Good luck!" I tell her as Ruby and I walk away.

"You know sign language?"

"Yup, though I am pretty rusty all things considered. I could barely understand half of what she said, and guessed when I didn't know."

"I really hope you didn't give her some stupid advice."

"I told her to ask Weiss to the dance."

"What!?"

"Don't worry, Weiss was thinking about asking her, but she didn't know if Bella would say yes."

"It's a couple's dance, did she want to ask her as a friend?"

"At first, but I told her that Weiss wouldn't mind if she asked as more than a friend."

"Angel Sierra Grey, Matchmaker."

"They would be the second couple I've set up this year. Excluding you and I."

"I'm pretty sure I asked first…"

"Would you have asked if I hadn't come to find you on the roof?"

"Probably not for a while."

"So then, technically, I forced you to ask me first."

She hits me lightly on the shoulder, "Let's get back to the dorm, today's been a long day."

"You're telling me." I sigh, lacing my hand with hers, "Actually, can we walk around for a bit? I want to talk to you about some stuff."

"Ok."

* * *

I take her out to one of the courtyards and sit down in one of the hanging swings that border the area.

"I'm thinking about leaving…" I say.

"I thought we already discussed this." She interrupts.

"You didn't let me finish. I want to take you with me."

"Where would we be going?"

"Back to Atlas. If Jamie is the only one with the answers I need, I'm going to have to track him down. I doubt they left him in Schnee Memorial after we found him, so it's not going to be an easy task."

"Why don't you see what information the Atleasian Military has on him? I'd assume your status as one of their secret service would let you see their records. If there isn't anything, then go back to Atlas."

"I guess that's an option, but it feels like the longer I wait, the farther they could have taken him."

"But the two of us going to Atlas without any idea where they could have taken him isn't exactly the best use of our time."

I go to say something before she places a finger on my lips, "I know you want these answers, I do too, but rushing into things blind won't help us. We need to sit back and see what pieces of the puzzle we do have."

"Ok. We know that my parents kept a lot from me, Jamie Oran is the only one who might know the truth, and my dad knew your mom."

"We also know my mom knew your mom, the AHH lied about how my mom died, and alchemy was almost certainly involved in her death. So how can we connect the pieces we have?"

"It is quite likely your mom was asked by Jamie to help Team JINX on a mission, considering how well she knew him, she agreed to help. The mission went wrong somehow, and your mom ended up dead with JINX being the only witnesses. The AHH didn't want it going public so they made sure all the members of Team JINX were either incapacitated or silenced. Whatever the mission was, the AHH didn't want anyone, including the hunters involved, to remember it."

"So the likelihood of them keeping files on said mission is next to none?"

"I'm positive they wouldn't have digital copies, but they might have kept at least one physical set at their headquarters."

"So there is no way for us to see them?"

"Not without help from a higher up. Someone like Ozpin or Ironwood would have to approve it, and Ozpin has already said he doesn't want to dig into old AHH files anymore. The risk of someone finding out what we're looking for is getting higher the further down the rabbit hole we go."

"Ok, then it's safe to assume we won't have any official information for a long time, if ever. Given all that, what's the best way for us to move forward?"

I sigh, "The way I see it we have two options, we can either wait for some more information, or we go after my father's journals in an attempt to find a philosopher's stone. Then we can get your mom back, and ask her questions directly."

"You said that Gluttony's master mentioned he would see you soon. Do you think he will come after you, or does he expect you to find him?"

"I'm assuming he will send someone or something after especially after the "dog" in the storage room yesterday. He knows I've seen what he's capable of, between a real homunculus and a chimera of that complexity, there's no doubt in my mind I'm dealing with a master alchemist. Someone who knows a lot more about bio-alchemy than I do."

"Didn't you say that's what your brother studied?"

"All things considered, it would make sense if my brother was the one who created the homunculus and chimera. When we fought Roman at the docks, the only reason I let him go was because he threatened my sister's life, and I couldn't risk him hurting her. The likelihood they were kept together isn't high, but the high tier bio-alchemy combined with Roman's threat leads me to believe he has them both."

"But we're no better on that front, maybe even worse. There's been no White Fang activity or any sign of Roman since our last run in with him. Unless you remember something from the rally Sun didn't."

"Roman said something about an operation east of Vale, outside the walls. He wanted recruits to go out, but he didn't say what they would be doing before Sun and I "interrupted"."

"I doubt we would be allowed to leave Vale and just wander east without an idea of where such a thing would be taking place."

"Even if we knew where it was taking place, there's no guarantee Roman would be there, or that he wouldn't have used the info he gave us as a way to bait us into a trap."

"And there's always the chance he's already done with them, if he's gotten what he needs from them, he would have no reason to keep them around."

"Except to use them as leverage against me. If there's any way to manipulate the world's most powerful huntress, I'd assume Roman would want to keep it around."

She laces her fingers with mine, "It still scares me that I'm basically dating a goddess."

"I hope you know I would give every bit of power I have away if it meant you would be safe."

She squeezes my hand tighter, "If you had the choice to save the world or me, which would you…"

"You," I interrupt, "every single time."

"That's so...selfish of you." She groans

"It's not if I save the world after," I take her chin in my hand, "but I won't ever let anyone hurt you or the world if I can help it." I say, pressing my lips to hers.

I let myself relax, and slide down to lay on the swing. Ruby squeaks as I pull her on top of me. She smiles down at me as she lies down, and wraps her arms under my neck.

"Is it supposed to rain tonight?" She asks.

"I don't think so, but it might get a little cold."

"I think the peacefulness is worth it if you want to stay out."

"I'd prefer to go inside tonight, but I think a camping trip could be arranged at some point."

"Can we at least enjoy this for a while longer?"

I kiss her neck, "Sure, but only if I can kiss you some more."

She bites my earlobe, "Only if I get to mark my kitty cat."

I blush, "Not anywhere your sister can see it, I'll be murdered in my sleep if she sees any love bites."

She giggles, "Love bites?"

"Hickeys, whatever you want to call them, I don't want any visible ones especially with the dance this weekend."

"What's the problem with people knowing you're mine?" She says, rolling a lock of my hair between her fingers.

"I'm not ready for that yet, ok?"

"Ok, but I think you are ready for this." She says, slipping her hand under my shirt.

"Ruby Rose, don't you dare…"

She starts running her fingers down my sides. I start giggling uncontrollably, "Ruby stop that tickles!" I squeal, pushing her off of me.

She falls into the leaf pile next to the swing, but not before dragging me down with her. I land with my hands on either side of her, looking down at those bright pools of molten silver.

"I will never get over how beautiful your eyes are." I tell her, brushing some leaves away from her face.

"Shut up and kiss me." She says, slamming her lips into mine. I couldn't believe how good it felt, the raw passion behind the kiss driving the two of us.

"What's this about?" I ask, breathing heavily after we break apart.

"The part of your speech earlier where you said we're huntresses and you'll never know whether we'll always come back from a mission. I may not know when I'm going to go, but I know that I want to spend every waking moment I have with you."

She reaches up and brushes a tear from my cheek, "You're crying…" She says, sounding concerned.

"Yeah I'm crying," I choke out, "How do you expect me to react? After you say something like that?"

I collapse, sobbing, onto her shoulder, "For you not to become a blubbering mess."

"I don't deserve you…"

"After you said you'd give up all your power and the world just to save me, I think you deserve me."

I wipe the tears from my eyes, "I love you."

"I love you too." She says, wrapping her arms around me, "Wanna have some fun?"

"Sure."

She then rolls through the leaves with me in her arms, the two of us laughing as the leaves coat our hair.

**? P.O.V**

* * *

The figure dropped down from their perch, their faunus vision giving them a clear image of the two girls rolling around through the leaves. A smile crossed their lips as they watched them tumble through the leaves, knowing they were happy.

" _It's good to know you've done well for yourself Sierra, keep going, I'll see you soon._ "

And just as quickly as the figure had appeared, the person vanished as if they weren't even there in the first place.

* * *

**Sierra P.O.V**

After we rolled through the leaves a couple times I yawned, "I'm tired." I tell Ruby.

"Too tired to walk?"

I was about to say no before my eyelids started to droop. I could barely keep them open.

"Yeah," I say, yawning again, "Can you…"

I didn't even get to finish before Ruby had scooped me into her arms.

"I thought you were embarrassed when I did this." She says as we walk towards the dorms.

"I don't give a damn right now. I just want to go to bed." I say, leaning on her and closing my eyes.

She doesn't say anything as she carries me back to my dorm and lays me down as she takes off her boots.

"Do you want to change?"

"I'm too tired…"

I can hear the embarrassment in her voice as she asks, "Do you want me to get your nightgown and put it on you?"

"I don't know why you're embarrassed about that," I say, "We've both seen each other naked, we've had…"

"Yeah, yeah I get your point, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing."

"It should, if we're comfortable enough to have sex, we should be able to handle each other in underwear. It's not like I'm nude under my clothes."

"Fine." She says, "Sit up."

She goes and grabs my nightgown from my closet. I struggle to make it to a sitting position and Ruby pulls off my top.

"I almost can't see it, almost." She says, her fingers ghosting over my most recent scar, "When are we going to start going over your scars again? We've gotten out of the routine."

I yawn, "Whenever you want." I mumble.

She pulls the cloth over my head, takes off my shoes, and pulls off my pants all in one fell swoop.

She grabs her pajamas, and is about to go to the bathroom to change before I grab her sleeve, "You did me, so I get to do you right?"

She smiles, "Of course."

I loosen her corset, and slide it off of her torso. I slip it up to her chest, and see the lower half of her boobs.

"Ruby Rose, going commando?"

"I wear a corset, if I wore a bra too, I'd be suffocated."

"It's fine with me, it means I get to do this." I say, kissing her chest.

"Sierra!" She tries to yell, but it comes out as more of a moan.

I bite down and suck on her sensitive flesh, leaving a small mark where only I would be able to see it.

"The nerve! Especially after I couldn't do you…" She grumbles, covering her chest.

"I'm fine with you doing it somewhere that can't be seen, but you were about to mark my neck! It would have been totally visible in a dress."

"Fine then off with the nightgown, I want to find a spot."

I take it off and she looks me over, trying to decide where she wants to mark me.

I blush, "Stop looking at me like you want to eat me."

"I wouldn't mind tasting you again at some point…"

"Ruby Rose! That's vulgar." I say, red as a tomato.

"You act like you haven't said anything like that," She says, her hand ghosting over my new scar, "Is here okay?"

"Sure."

She bites down and pulls just hard enough for the skin to snap back. I bite my bottom lip to prevent myself from moaning.

"I wanted to hear you moan." She says, sounding disappointed.

I can't stop myself from purring as she continues nipping at the scar.

"There we go, it's not a moan, but I'll take purring as a good sign."

I let my hands stray to her wrists, and pin her against the wall.

"If we keep going, I'm not going to be able to stop." I tell her.

"I agree, so are we going all the way or is this enough?"

"This is enough for tonight. I'm pretty sure I'd pass out before we'd get to the good part. One more kiss to finish?"

She responds by wrapping her hands around my neck, and pressing up against me, "Your move."

I smash my lips into hers, and she responds with just as much ferocity. Our tongues dance around each other as we try and get as much of each other's taste as possible.

"Told you...I wanted...another taste…" She says as we pull away.

I pull my nightgown back on, "And you taste fantastic as always. Now let me dress you."

I take her pants off and grab her satin shirt from the counter. I pull the fabric over her head, and let her step into her pajama bottoms.

I lean against the wall, "So can you…"

She knocks my legs out from under me and catches me before I get anywhere close to the floor.

"Thank you…" I whisper.

She carries me to bed, and lays me down on my stomach. She pads over to my worktable, and I hear the clank of a metal tool as she walks back over.

"Turn over for a minute."

I do as instructed, and she puts a wrench to my automail. I hear the clamp pop, and she carries my arm over to the table.

"You thought of everything I do in my nightly routine…"

"I do pay attention to my girlfriend." She says, sliding underneath the blankets.

"I'll do your nightly maintenance on Crescent Rose in the morning." I yawn.

She presses herself up against me, "Thank you, good night."

I curl into her embrace, "Good night my little rose."


	24. The Doctor Will See You Now

I bolt upright, my breathing rapid gasps.

"You were having a nightmare right?" Ruby asks, her hands behind her head.

"What time is it?"

"Really early in the morning. Not sure what time."

"Did I wake you?" I ask, ashamed.

"No, I had a nightmare of my own, and I was trying to go back to sleep until you started to toss and turn."

"It was about my sister again. She was asking me why I hadn't found her yet. Then Roman walked in front of her and slit her throat."

Ruby wraps her arms around me, "Do you want to see if that psychiatrist could see you today? Calling wouldn't hurt right?"

"It would be this early in the morning. We can call later."

"Do you want to get a scar out of the way while we're both up?"

"If you insist." I say, pulling off my nightgown, "Take your pick."

"Are any of them from a mission?"

"One, but it was when I got hit over the shoulder with a rock on a collection mission."

"You never got hurt during one of your assassination missions?"

"No, I don't believe anyone did, now that I think about it."

"Did you guys ever get shot at?"

"We fought with guards on several occasions, but I can't remember a single injury."

"Did you forget about them?"

"I feel like I would remember something like that. The only time I can remember injuries was on collection or escort missions. Even then, it was only bruises or small scrapes. Other than one time that April's brother got slashed by a guard dog, I can't think of any major injuries."

"Was it luck?"

"Maybe, but then again if any of us had luck, we wouldn't have been kidnapped in the first place."

"Fair enough. How about this one?" She says, pressing her fingers to a mark slightly above the waistline to my pajama leggings.

"That one isn't actually a scar, it's a birthmark. The doctor who delivered me thought I might not be able to walk because of the indention in my spine, but I proved him wrong a couple months later. He was astonished and called me the luckiest little girl he had ever met."

"Is it something that could happen later?"

"Me being crippled? The doc said he doubted it would be a problem past age four, but I suppose it could happen at any time. Though I think my aura would heal it pretty quickly, I'd probably be walking again within a month if it did happen."

"I guess I'm glad I'll always have your back."

I meet her eyes, "Really?"

She shrugs, "It was a freebie. Now let's get back to sleep, you've got a dress to buy later."

"And you've got class to attend…"

"Or I could…"

"...go to class because you don't get to see my dress till the dance." I finish her sentence.

She puffs out her cheeks, "I wasn't going to say that…"

"Really? Then what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say I could stay here and get Yang to help me practice…"

"You were going to skip class so you could practice to dance with me?"

"Yes because my last dance was my second year at Signal, and it's not like I've had time to practice."

"We can practice now if you want."

"The point of me practicing is so I can impress you."

"Fine, but you have to tell me about this dance at Signal."

"What about it?"

"Like, who did you take with you?"

She hits me on the shoulder, "Sierra!"

"That's not an answer." I tease.

"I took a friend…"

"Like you and I friend?"

"No, we were not in a relationship."

"Did you kiss?"

"Stop it!"

"That's not an answer again."

"Fine, we did okay? You happy now?!" She yells.

I turn over to look at her, "No, I made you mad. I wasn't aware it was a sore subject."

She sighs, "She was the first girl I ever got to know in that way, and I wished I would have told her how I felt."

"Why didn't you?"

"The night I finally worked up the courage, was the night I was at that dust shop in Vale. After that, I was whisked off to Beacon, leaving all my friends and her behind."

"Then why did you go for me?"

"Because I got a letter from Signal," She says, reaching under the bed and pulling out an envelope, "and it had this picture with it."

I look at the picture, and in it is two girls holding hands with writing on edge of the photo, " _Your two best friends miss you!_ "

"So…"

"They got together after I left. Not even a week. Their letter talks about how happy they've been together, and how without me, they would have never met." She says, clearly choking back tears.

"Ruby…" I murmur, holding her head close.

"I'm glad she's happy, and I know that you're the one for me, but…" She chokes out before bursting into tears.

"That doesn't make it any easier to accept. I know the feeling, it's the same one I had for Weiss for so long, but my sister could always make her happier than I could." I say, letting her cry into my shoulder.

As her tears stop falling I ask, "Have you written back?"

"I started to, but I didn't know what to say."

"Well, send them a picture of the two of us and tell them how it happened. It is a pretty interesting story all things considered."

"That sounds great. I'll get started during Oobleck's class."

"Ruby Rose…"

"I'm already ahead by like a week and a half, it's really not a big deal."

"But you're behind in Port's class, and you have your combat exam in Goodwitch's class on Monday."

"Port's stuff will take me an hour at most, and I've already sparred with Blake for combat practice."

"Just don't let yourself forget about it okay? I'm willing to help if you need it, but I'm not going to do it for you."

"Nor did I ask you to," She says, putting her arm over me, "Let's get back to sleep."

I kiss her on the cheek, "Wake me up when you get ready for class, and I'll call about getting an appointment."

"Sure. Goodnight."

I snuggle up to her, "Goodnight."

* * *

A light push on my shoulder makes me open my eyes.

"This is the last time Sierra. I'm going to be late if you don't wake up this time."

"Am I that hard to wake up?" I ask her, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"You've gone back to sleep twice now, and I'm about to be late," She says, handing me my scroll, "You need to make that call."

I dial the number, "Ok, I'll see you when I get back from dress shopping."

"Call me if you get the appointment today, I'll be there in a flash."

"I'll make sure to call you, but don't you dare skip class to come."

"No promises." She says, running off with her signature puff of rose petals.

"She is going to fail Port's class because of you." James comments.

" _Where have you been?_ "

"Investigating."

" _Investigating what?_ "

"Ruby's mother. I wanted to see if there was anything about her or Team JINX in my memories."

" _Anything?_ "

"Potentially, but it's not exactly what I expected. It's actually something about where your father's journal came from."

"What about it?"

"I remember something one of the researchers said about how it was delivered, " _Did you see the thing that brought this? There's no way that was human or grimm…_ " That sound familiar to you?"

" _You think it was a homunculus?_ "

"That's the only thing I can think of that fits that description."

" _Ok, so that links Gluttony's master to my father's journals and my brother. I don't think you ever mentioned this, where was the facility you were held in?_ "

"In a failed human settlement to the east of Vale. Mountain Glenn."

I gasp, " _If Torchwick is working with the Fang, do you think…_ "

"That's where the operation Torchwick was talking about is taking place, it's a distinct possibility."

" _I need to tell Ozpin,_ " I say, putting my scroll down, about to stop the call.

"No, you need to make that call. I'm not letting you get out of it that easily. Even if we know where, we still have no information about what's going on there or how dangerous it could be."

The phone clicks as someone answers, " _Fine, but I'm going right after this call._ "

"Hello?"

"Hello. My name is Angel Sierra Grey, and I was calling to make an appointment with Doctor Ziegler."

"Dr. Ziegler likes to talk with her patients before scheduling their appointments. Do you have time to talk with her?"

"I do."

"Ok then, I'll put you through."

I wait as on hold music plays, " _I hope this doesn't take too long._ "

"You're just impatient about going to see Ozpin. You realize the only thing he's going to tell you to be patient."

" _I know, but I might have a lead on my siblings and one of my father's journals._ "

"Are you going to give the journal to the Truth?"

" _I don't know. What Ruby said really resonated with me. I have no idea why the Truth would want my father's journals if he already knows everything about alchemy."_

"Nothing good."

The music stops, " _Let me finish this, then we can continue talking._ "

"Dr. Ziegler speaking."

"Hi Dr. Ziegler, your assistant told me you wanted to speak with me before scheduling my appointment."

"Yes, you are Angel Grey correct?"

"Yes, but I prefer Sierra over Angel."

"Ok, Sierra, tell me a little bit about why you're scheduling an appointment with me."

"Is this call confidential?"

"Yes, all interactions I have with my patients are strictly off-record."

"I've had certain circumstances in my life that made me...kill some people, and I am starting to lose the ability to cope with it."

"Hmm, sounds like you would want to see me as soon as possible?"

"I would like the earliest appointment you have, if it's not too much trouble."

"I had a patient call and cancel this afternoon, so if you are available, I can get you scheduled."

"Is it okay to bring someone with me?"

"Are they also seeking treatment?"

"No, she will be there as...moral support."

"I only allow family as sit-ins during my sessions."

"She is my girlfriend, and she is about as close to family as I have."

"Parents?"

"Deceased."

"Siblings?"

My breath catches for a moment, "Currently missing."

She sighs, "Well, it sounds like we have quite a bit to talk about."

"So is it okay for her to come?"

"That is fine, considering your circumstances, what is her name?"

"Ruby Rose."

"Okay Sierra," She says as I hear clicks on a keyboard, "I have you and Miss Rose scheduled for shortly after lunchtime this afternoon. Is that okay?"

"That sounds great, thank you."

"You're welcome, and I will see you this afternoon."

_*Click*_

I quickly type out a message to Weiss, telling her dress shopping would have to be later today because of my appointment.

" _That was less stressful than I thought it would be._ " I think to myself.

"See? People aren't that bad."

" _I never said that they were._ "

"Your antisocial personality says enough."

" _The disembodied voice of a former White Fang soldier gets to critique my social life?"_

"Voices." Shade quips.

" _What's your two cents if you're going to butt in?_ "

"You are an introvert."

" _Do you expect me to be a socialite after the life I've had?_ "

"No, but we both think it would be good for you to have a hobby."

" _Does crime fighting count as a hobby?_ "

"Not a healthy one…"

" _But you admit it's a hobby?_ "

They both sigh, " _Ha! I got both of you."_

"We meant something that won't kill you if you do it wrong."

" _I paint, write poems, and make weapons. Any of those work for you two?_ "

"All things you do alone."

" _I know, and I'm happy with that. I'm a proud introvert._ "

"People who are the hardest to love, need it the most."

" _That's why I have Ruby, speaking of which, I need to call her. You two can complain about my social life later._ "

I dial Ruby's scroll, "Hey, so you got an appointment?" She asks.

"Yup, right after lunchtime."

"Ok, be ready to go early, otherwise we might miss the airship."

"Are you eating here or do you want to get something while we're out?"

"I would love to take you out to lunch."

"I will be paying..."

"Nothing. You have already treated me enough."

"I've only ever paid for take-out..."

"I never said you paid for anything. I said you've treated me, so this is my way of repaying you."

"Fine, if you insist. I'm going to get ready then head over to the airship platform."

"I'm outside Port's, so I'll get there before you will. Don't be late."

"I would totally be late for the only doctor's appointment I've had in over seven years. That would be a great first impression."

"You know what? I'm not going to comment on that fact, and instead start heading for the platform."

"See you in a bit." I say, making a kiss noise.

"Love you too." She says, hanging up

" _If you insist Ozpin will tell me to wait, then I'll wait till after my appointment to talk to him."_ I tell James as I pull off my nightgown.

"I think that would be better for the quality of your appointment as well. You won't be frustrated after he tells you to wait."

I grab one of my nicer outfits, and make the decision not to tape up my wings.

"You're going to show her?"

" _I figure that being sincere with her will make her diagnosis more accurate, and that she can help me get better._ "

"Sierra, I know this is going to sound crazy, but...who are you without those scars?"

I sigh, " _If I'm honest, I don't know, but that doesn't mean I don't want to find out._ "

"You'd better get going."

I straighten my dress and hair, " _Ok…_ "

"Angel Sierra Grey, are you nervous?"

" _About the appointment? No. About what she's going to tell me? Yes. I'm afraid that if it's too bad, Ruby will…_ "

"Don't finish that sentence, you and I both know she won't. She will never leave you."

" _How do you know?_ "

"Do you remember when Ruby asked me a question while you two were in your portal?"

" _Yeah…_ "

"She asked me what you thought about getting married."

" _You can't be serious._ "

"What would I gain by lying to you?"

" _She's so young to be thinking about…_ "

"You do realize you're only a year older than her right? She might be young, but she isn't too young to start thinking about how she wants to spend her life. A life she wants to spend with you, unless you keep pushing her away."

" _I don't push her away._ "

"Then why do you run from your problems? She is the fastest girl in the world, but she never runs from a fight. You are the strongest huntress in the world, so why do you?"

" _Because no matter how strong I am...nothing will ever bring them back. Seventy-eight people were murdered by my hand, people with families, lives, dreams, things that I can never repent for._ "

"I want to tell you something, but I think might beat me to it. Speaking of which, you're about to be late."

" _Shit! You're right!"_  I tell him as I take off in a sprint, " _Why can't you tell me while I'm running?_ "

"I don't think you'll believe me, so I'll let a professional tell you."

" _Ok, if you insist._ "

I make my to the airship platform, and I can see Ruby sitting on one of the benches with her hands in her lap.

I sneak up behind her and cover her eyes with my hands.

"Guess who?"

"You were almost late." Ruby says, sounding frustrated.

"But I wasn't…"

"You ran all the way here. I can hear your heart racing from here."

"I needed the exercise."

She sighs, "Why do I put up with you?"

"I don't know, you tell me?"

"Maybe I'll think of a reason on the way." She says, handing me my ticket.

"Do you have any ideas of where you want to eat?" I ask as we climb aboard the airship.

"I feel like you should be focused on your appointment, not thinking about food."

"I can't help it, I eat a lot."

She looks me in the eyes, "You're going to be honest aren't you? No lying to the doctor."

"I'm slightly offended you'd think I would lie to a doctor."

"You've lied to me, your girlfriend, on multiple occasions."

I sulk, "I said I was sorry every time, and… It was about past stuff that I couldn't deal with."

"What makes you think I couldn't help you? We are stronger together, you know that don't you?"

"No amount of strength can bring them back Ruby. I can't bring them back and, as such, I can't forgive myself. So…"

"Stop," She says, putting a finger to my lips, "Save it for later."

She puts her hand over mine, "We'll have a little time before we have to get to your appointment, and I want to show you something."

The ship starts to descend and Ruby pulls me to my feet as soon as the door opens, "Ruby! Slow down!" I say as she pulls me along.

"Keep up slowpoke!" She says, letting go of my hand and running down the street, several rose petals falling in her wake.

"Fine!" I yell after her, my aura sparking to life with the activation of her semblance.

I follow the few rose petals I could see, but then they stopped. I doubled back hoping the pick up the trail again, but the petals seemed to have vanished.

"Ruby!" I call out, hoping she was near enough to hear me.

I started to look around worried not only about Ruby, but about the fact nothing looked familiar.

" _I need to find Ruby or we'll be late._ "

"You could aura sense for her."

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down enough to use aura…

"Now, what's a nice girl like yourself doin' round this side of town?" The man says, the cool metal of his knife pressed to my side.

"I was on my way to a date, would you mind giving me directions?"

"Sure, if you wouldn't mind giving me all your valuables. I'll take that necklace for starters."

" _I don't have anything to fight him with…"_

"What about you know...your fists?"

" _Oh...I guess that works._ "

I go to turn before a familiar voice calls out, "Get the hell away from my girlfriend you creep!"

The guy instantly turns to run before a scythe pins him to the wall, "Hand over the knife. Considering you won't be robbing anyone else ever again, you won't need it right?" Ruby growls.

He lets the knife drop to the floor and Crescent Rose clicks closed before the mugger sprints away from us, eyes wide with terror.

"I could have taken him." I say as she walks past me.

She turns to me, "I forget you're basically inhuman with how strong you are, so you really don't need my protection."

"Ruby you know that's not what I…"

"Meant?" She finishes, "A thank you would have been n…"

I cut her off with a kiss, "Thank you, and I'm sorry that I'm such an arrogant fool." I say after I pull away.

"We need to get going to your appointment, so I'll have to show you the thing later."

"You do know where we're going right?"

"Yeah, her office is off of town square and this road over here is a straight shot to it. Let's go."

The two of us take off arm in arm, and we reach the town square without any more trouble.

Ruby leads me to a small business center with various shops and outlets strewn around the complex.

She points to a small, almost store-like place with a Dr. Zeigler sign on the door as the focal point.

"You ready?" She says as we approach the door.

I squeeze her hand a little tighter, "Ready as I'll ever be."

Opening the door, I'm immediately hit with the scent of roasted coffee and look to see a small coffee machine on the table beside the door.

"You must be Sierra Grey," The receptionist comments from behind the front desk, "You are a little early, so help yourself to some coffee and Dr. Zeigler will be with you shortly." She says, motioning to an area off to the side of the hallway for the two of us to sit.

Ruby sits down while I get myself a cup of coffee.

"Do you want some?" I ask her.

"I'm not a big coffee person."

"Do you not like the taste?"

"No, it makes me way too jumpy."

"I'm going to have to see that at some point."

"You're mean." She pouts, flicking me in the nose.

"You're cute." I say, placing a quick kiss on her nose.

I bring the cup to my lips and let the familiar flavor calm my nerves as I get more nervous the longer I sit waiting.

"I'm ready when you are Miss Grey." I hear the doctor's voice call from down the hall.

I stand and send Ruby a glance, one that showed her how scared I felt.

"You're fine. I'm with you all the way." She whispers, lacing her fingers with my own.

We walk down the hall. Ruby squeezes my hand as it starts to shake. The hall opened up to a wide space at the end, two doors positioned on either side.

"The door to your left Miss Grey." The doctor calls.

I turn into the room and I'm hit with a vanilla smell, accompanied by cinnamon air freshener.

"I apologize if the smells are too strong, but I got the carpet deep cleaned and perfumed yesterday."

I look the doctor over, and she caught me off guard with how casual she looked. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail with the rest falling over one of her eyes. Her bright blue eyes stood out against her pale skin tone, giving her an almost angelic appearance. Her informal apparel of a simple t-shirt and jeans didn't scream doctor, but neither did her laid back attitude.

"Sizing me up already? What's got you so on edge?" She asks.

"I'm not a huge fan of doctors." I say, letting my grip on Ruby's hand falter as not to crush her fingers.

"Neither am I, so we already have some common ground here. Have a seat." She says, motioning to a large recliner in the middle of the room.

I lie down on the chair, and Ruby takes a seat on a small stool to my right.

"Ok Miss Grey, I need you to sign this form here for me to have access to your medical history. This is for making sure you're not allergic to any medications I could prescribe you, and for giving me some background information." She says, handing me a clipboard.

I quickly scribbled out my signature and pass the form back to her.

"Ok, let's look and see if the information I have here is correct. Your name is Angel Sierra Grey, you are seventeen years old, and you are currently enlisted."

"Yes, that is correct."

"I guess I should get straight to the point here, I would like you to explain the circumstances behind your condition. Start from wherever you feel most comfortable."

I sigh and start from my mother's death, explaining how I had lost my arm trying to bring her back. Then my father's murder, the kidnapping, and my imprisonment with an unknown organization. I take off my jacket and show her my wings as well as my ears and scars. I go on to my time with the White Fang, and how Adam tried to manipulate me. Then I get to Beacon, my teaching, meeting Team RWBY, and my relationship with Ruby.

"And that's about it up until this point."

Dr. Zeigler puts on her glasses that had previously been set upon her desk, "Do you regret what you did?"

"Is it bad if I say no?"

"It could be, but not necessarily. This facility, do you ever remember seeing the outside of it or leaving for these "missions" where you killed people?"

"No, but I had always assumed it was me zoning myself out so I wouldn't be affected by what I was about to do."

"I want you to try and take yourself back to one of the murders you committed. Visualize the one you remember the most about. Think about what you were feeling, the temperature, whether it was raining and what that felt like."

I close my eyes, "The most memorable would have to be the first, they told me her name was Cynthia."

"Ok, set the scene for me."

"It was shortly after we had been kidnapped, so late winter. It looked darker than it should have been for the time, I remember it was starting to snow…"

"But how did that snow feel? Was it bitter cold or were you dressed for it?"

I grit my teeth, trying to remember the details, "I don't remember."

"What were you wearing then?"

"My standard gear. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Try and remember putting that gear on, or what it felt like when you did."

"What are you getting at?"

"Keep going and I'll tell you."

"I don't remember putting it on, but they could have put in on me during transport."

"How were you transported?"

"Unconscious, as to lessen the possibility of escape."

"I think that settles it." She says, taking her glasses in one hand.

"Settles what?" I say, sitting up and opening my eyes.

"I have very serious doubts any of the murders you committed actually happened."

Ruby and I both look at her, "What?!"

"I often work with soldiers who have been confirmed to have killed someone and it's very rare that they remember only what they saw. More often, they remember what they felt. The temperature, whether it was raining, the feel of the weight of their firearm as they held it up to fire. You however, only remember what you heard and saw, both things that can be artificially created."

"That's not true…" I say, laying down with my hands covering my face.

"Let's say you're right," Ruby says, sounding unsure, "How and why would such a thing have happened?"

"I can offer you this as an explanation of how." She says as I hear her pull open a drawer of her desk.

I take my hands off my face to see her handing Ruby a manila folder with a Vale military standard imprinted on the front.

"Considering your current, I don't think I have to worry about you giving up classified intel. During the first faunus war, there was little reservation when it came to torture and medical experimentation on faunus prisoners. As such, a lot of...unethical methods were used to gain intelligence on the whereabouts of faunus leaders and weaponry. One such method was known as SDM, sensory deprivation manipulation. The technique used a complex machine that deprived the person of their senses and replaced them with computer generated images and sounds. The technique was one of the most effective of its time, even with the primitive state of the systems at the time. After the war, the four kingdoms agreed that nothing like it should ever be allowed to happen again and the SDM machines were decommissioned. During the prosperity following the war, a majority of the machines were shipped to Atlas. Only they never made it into military custody there, as the ship carrying them was hijacked on its way into port. Very little was taken except for the machines."

"How do you know all of this?" I ask, motioning to the folder.

"Ex-military. I was one of Vale Military's finest medical researchers. As such, I was tasked with studying the machine's effects on the individuals it was used on, as well as any potential to use them in a more humane manner. I was tasked with finding them after the hijacking alongside several huntresses from the area. We never recovered them, so there is little doubt in my mind that they weren't taken on purpose."

"Now Doctor, with all that said, I understand that the possibility exists that something like this happened, but there's no reason as to why."

"I think there's a very sensible reason. The "training" was effective was it not?"

"It was, but…"

"From your description, it seems like you were trainees for something bigger, so why would whoever kidnapped you want to risk you being able to escape or die while on some dangerous mission if they could do the same training without the risk?"

"They wouldn't…"

"You also said that you had a supervisor on non-assassination missions, don't you think it's odd they didn't give you a supervisor on the more dangerous missions that could have killed you?"

"I don't know! But there's no way everything was just some simulation!"

"Is there anyone that could confirm otherwise?" She asks, knowing I was backed into a corner.

I stand, "I need to make a call." I say, opening the door.

"Sie…" Ruby starts before Doctor Ziegler stops her.

I dial Ivan's number, "She needs this." I hear the doctor says before I get the door closed.

I wait with baited breath as I hear the dial tone over and over until I hear the click, " _Hello. Ivan Parker speaking._ "

"Hi Ivan, its Bats."

" _Well, I can't say I expected a call from you Bats, but I guess I should get to the point, what do you need?_ "

"I need to know something, did they ever offer you a supervisory role for our assassination missions?"

" _No, Bats what is this about?_ " He asks.

"Are you sure?" I ask, desperately.

" _Positive. Though I remember overhearing something along the lines of "They won't need a supervisor where they're going"."_

I drop my scroll as I clutch my chest, " _Bats,_ " I hear Ivan call, " _Sierra are you okay?_ " He asks when I don't answer

I don't answer, stumbling down the hall with one arm on the wall, the other on my chest.

"Sierra, calm down." James tells me, but I can barely hear him over the sound of blood rushing in my ears.

I crumple to the floor, my hands gripping the carpet as my head throbs in pain.

" _What she said can't be true, can it?_ "

* * *

Images started flashing at the corners of my vision, threatening to force me unconscious.

Voices filter in, leaving me to question whether I was still in Doctor Ziegler's office, " _I think this one is resisting the Propofol…"_

" _I doubt she'll remember this, which is all the boss cares about. Load her into the chamber."_

Then the voices sound farther away, as if they were on the other side of a door, " _She is definitely not unconscious…"_

" _The liquid should knock her out."_

Cold fluid flowed over my back, instantly numbing everything it touched. I slam my shoulder against the glass door, sending a long crack down the side.

" _Shit! Get some Valium. We can't risk her damaging the machine."_

Footsteps pound over to my chamber, and I'm flung out onto the floor. The numb feeling had spread to my limbs, and I couldn't move as a needle was pressed into the back of my neck.

" _What is going on down here?_ " A voice called, a voice I recognized as the leader I met after taking down Greer

" _This one has a high tolerance to the sedative we normally use sir. She managed to crack one of the pods."_

" _You idiots! These aren't some playthings! These are some of the only chambers like this left on Remnant. Now get her drugged and into one of the other pods."_

Everything started to fade, but not before I saw one of the pods with  _PROPERTY OF VALE MILITARY embedded into its side._

* * *

I sit up, disoriented after that exper…

"What?" I ask myself as I look down to see my old nightgown, the one I wore before my mom died. I look around and it was my old room. All of my posters and my stuffed animals were exactly the way they used to be before I started training with my dad. I reach out of bed with my left hand and gasp as I see skin instead of metal.

" _What's going on?"_

I get out of bed, take my teddy bear, and walk as quietly as I can toward my parent's bedroom. It felt so strange to be looking up at the doors as I walked down the hall. I reach the end of the hall and grab for the doorknob and slowly push the door open. I couldn't believe my eyes. Both my parents were there, sleeping as if nothing bad had ever happened.

" _This has to be a dream, but…_ " I think as I pinch myself, " _I'm not waking up._ "

I walk over to the bed and pull on my mother's side of the blanket.

She stirs slightly, blinks, and turns to me, "What's the matter my little angel?"

"I had a bad dream." I tell her, clutching my teddy bear to my chest.

"Oh sweetie come here," She says, pulling back the blanket to let me slide into the bed with her, "You can sleep with us tonight."

I curl into her side, " _If this is a dream, please don't let me wake up for a while._ "

"Are you excited for your birthday tomorrow?"

I instantly remember when this memory was, it was the night before my sixth birthday, the last night I would ever spend with my mother.

"No mama."

"Why not?"

"That was the dream. We went to pick strawberries, but you didn't come back."

"My little angel," She says, petting the tips of my wings like she used to, "It was only a dream, you have nothing to be upset about. Mommy's a huntress, so I don't want you to be worried."

I squeeze her torso tightly, "But I really missed you Mama."

She smiles, "I miss you too, but so does Ruby."

I look up at her, "I have to go back now, don't I?"

"Not yet, but soon."

"Can you sing me a lullaby before I go back to sleep?"

She runs a hand through my hair, "Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,

Smiles await you when you rise.

Sleep,

Pretty baby,

And I will sing a lullaby."

"I don't want to go mama." I say, crying into her nightgown.

"Cares you know not,

Therefore sleep,

While over you a watch I'll keep.

Sleep,

Pretty darling,

Do not cry

And I will sing," She hums wiping the tears from my face, "a lullaby."

I feel sleep pulling at my eyelids, "Mama.." I yawn, sleepily.

"I'll see you soon my little angel." She says as my eyes close.

I drop through the bed, falling into a black void.

Once I was gone, she sighs, "Sooner than you think."

* * *

**Ruby POV**

_*Thump*_

Before Dr. Ziegler could say anything, I was already in the hall at Sierra's side.

"DOCTOR!" I scream, rolling Sierra onto her back.

Dr. Ziegler rushes into the hall, bending down next to me, "Move, I need to check vitals."

She moves me out of the way and presses two fingers to Sierra's wrist, "Her pulse is fine, breathing normal, and no visible injuries. Has she ever had an episode like this before?"

"Yes," I tell her, remembering her two day episode in Atlas, "It lasted two days."

"I'm going to be honest with you Miss Ross that would have been great information to have before starting Miss Grey's therapy."

"What therapy?"

"I was attempting one of the first steps of exposure therapy, but Miss Grey left the room before I could finish. It is likely that whoever she called confirmed what I said, triggering some sort of repressed memory. Normally that wouldn't force a patient unconscious, but given Miss Grey's history with these sorts of events, it seems like the memory forced her into a premature occurrence."

"Should we attempt to wake her?"

"Absolutely not. Waking her has the chance of doing uncorrectable damage to her memory, or worse, making her brain dead."

"Then what should we do?"

"Help me pick her up. We'll move her onto the chair, and I'll see what I can do from there." She says, standing.

The two of us carry her into the room, but I can't help being afraid after Sierra starts to shake.

"I feel so helpless…" I say, taking a seat across from my shivering girlfriend.

"I wouldn't think about it that way," The doctor says, placing small restraints across Sierra's arms and legs, "She is in a doctor's care. Imagine what would have happened if something like this occurred while she was alone."

"Why are you restraining her?"

"Several of my previous patients have woken up with the memory of what they did fresh in their mind. Sometimes those memories can cause...violent episodes. I don't want to risk her injuring herself or one of us when she wakes up."

"What makes you think she'll wake up anytime soon? Her last episode lasted two days."

"Doctor's intuition. There is certainly the chance of her taking a while to wake up, but out of all the patients I've had over the years, the longest I've ever had someone take is five hours. Hope you didn't have plans this afternoon." She says, placing a cloth into her sink and running cold water over it.

"Sierra was supposed to go shopping for a dress later today."

"You could take her measurements and get a dress for her."

"No! I could never pick my girlfriend's dress."

"Do you know someone who would? My minimum estimate for her regaining consciousness is three hours and that's low balling it." She says, laying the cold water coated cloth over Sierra's forehead.

She sticks her head out into the hall, "Jade! Cancel my other appointments for this afternoon, and I need you to be ready to run in here if I need some assistance."

After she returns to her desk, I tell her, "I could find someone willing to do it." I say, knowing Weiss would be more than happy to help out Sierra, especially given the circumstances.

"I advise making that call now Miss Rose. I have some questions I would like to ask you after you're done." She says, her tone more serious than it had been moments before.

I stand not more than a foot from Sierra's side and dial Weiss, "Hey Ruby is everything going well?"

I take a deep breath, "Sierra is having another one of her episodes. Doctor Ziegler insists this one won't last as long as the last one, but she doubts Sierra will be awake within the next couple hours."

Weiss sighs, "Let me guess, you need me to find Sierra a dress for the dance?"

"Unless she wakes up soon, yes."

"I think that is quite respectful of you Ruby. Not wanting to pick your girlfriend's dress."

"Weiss," I whine, "nothing too flashy ok?"

"A dress made from pure gold, got it." Weiss responds sarcastically.

"Please don't…"

"Then she could use ascension and it would match her hair. That would look amazing on her."

"Weiss…" I growl, done with her teasing.

"Alright, Alright. Nothing flashy, but it needs to be revealing…"

"WEISS!"

"OK! I'm messing with you. I know what Sierra used to wear to formal events, so I can get something she'll enjoy wearing. Nothing too flashy, nothing too revealing, but something nice."

I sigh, "Thank you Weiss."

"No problem. Call me when Sierra wakes up. Do you want me to call Yang and tell her you won't be back till late?"

"Call her after you're done dress shopping. Just in case Sierra wakes up in the meantime."

"Alright. See you soon."

I hang up my scroll and turn to find Dr. Zeigler studying me.

"You said you had some questions for me?"

She removes her glasses, "Yes, and this first one should be quite simple, do you remember me Ruby Rose?"

"We've never met before."

"Are you sure about that?" She says, locking her piercing blue eyes on me.

I meet her gaze, I had never seen any like it before, but something seemed eerily familiar about her eyes. Then a short memory flashed in my mind of those same eyes looking down at me from a chair we still had in the living room of our house.

My eyes widened in realization, "I remember you talking with my mom…"

She smiles, "I had a feeling you would remember. Your mother was one of the huntresses assigned to help me recover the SDM units. She was pregnant with you at the time, and she never stopped talking about how she couldn't decide what to name you. I told her to name you something colorful, and from what you ended up with, I think she took it quite literally."

The two of us laughed, "I always wondered where my name came from."

"I don't know why she took my suggestion so highly. I figured she thought she owed me something after I delivered you."

"You delivered me?"

She chuckles, "We hadn't even been back from our deployment to find the SDM units and your mother's water. Both of your parents were in shock, but I stayed calm and here you are. You had quite the head of hair when you were born…"

I blush, "Thanks...I guess."

Her gaze hardens again, "I'm trying to understand what you see in Sierra. I assume she told you about her past before you started dating correct?"

"She did."

"So what made you want to pursue a relationship someone who believed they were a murderer?"

"I believe that people can change. Sierra confessed her guilt to me very early on, and she has done everything in her power to repent for the crimes she thought she had committed. I couldn't resist the glow in her eyes when she did something to help someone, whether it was killing a Grimm or rocking a baby to sleep. That gleam made her look so powerful, beautiful, and independent, all things I knew I wasn't. It's not like she's a beauty queen, or really tries to make herself pretty, it seems to come naturally to her."

Then I smiled, "Then there was her laugh, after the first time I heard it, I couldn't get enough. It was gentle, something that contradicted the personality she had and I couldn't understand how the two fit together. Now I know it's because of the walls she had put up around herself for protection. She thought if one more thing were to make it to the real her inside, she would shatter, never to be fixed. She broke down those walls herself when she helped me unlock my aura, telling me about some of her worst memories. Seeing her in pain like that hurt me, more than anything I had ever experienced. That's why I started dating her, to make sure nothing would hurt her like that."

She sighs, "Ruby, you've done well helping Sierra up until this point, but I want to make sure you know that the information she's gained is going to be a struggle for her to make sense of. I recommend you be by her side constantly for the next couple days. This realization is going to break her like nothing else could. From what she said, the last couple years of her life have been spent in regret of her actions, actions she now knows she didn't happen. She'll need a new direction in her life, one you will have to help her find."

"Her mission was to help the people who she hurt. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her to change it to help everyone. It's her nature anyway."

"I don't think it will be quite so simple. The Sierra you know has founded who she is on the basis of her forced captivity. She will more than likely try to rebuild herself from the ground up, and that won't be easy."

"I just hope she is still the girl I fell in love with…" I say, turning to look at Sierra's pained expression.

* * *

**Sierra POV**

_CRASH!_

I felt my wings take the impact of...something as I reached the end of my fall. Pieces of glass fall around me as I impact the floor.

" _That's gonna hurt in the morning._ " I tell myself, sitting up in the new space. "Is this Beacon?" I ask out loud, not knowing if anything would answer.

The walls around me were cracked, and by the looks of things, dilapidated beyond what Ozpin would ever allow. The windows down the hall were completely destroyed, not a fragment of the original glass remained.

I start to walk down the hallway and freeze as a grimm, a species I had never seen before, skulked through one of empty windows. I dive behind one of the pillars nearby, hoping to avoid getting into conflict with the creature.

" _Ok...Beacon's overrun with Grimm, and I need to get out._ "

I scan the hall, trying to figure out what side of the school I'm on. The classroom to my right still has the faint scent of dust in the air.

" _Dust studies is on the hall off of the administration wing._ " I tell myself, bolting into the room, avoiding the soot coated equipment.

I open the door on the opposite side of the room, only to find it blocked by rubble. A sliver of moonlight peeked through the edge of the debris, and I manage to push some out of the way, making barely enough space for me to squeeze through. I fall out of the crevice and I feel the rush of cold air as the wind whips at me. I turn back to look for Beacon tower to orientate myself, but the once bright tower wasn't lit and was barely visible against the night's sky.

" _What happened here?_ " I ask myself, looking around at how little of the building was still standing.

Grimm were swarming around the base of the tower, making it seem like the structure itself was writhing in pain. The dining hall was open to the elements, but I saw the glint of something metal inside. I make my way over, trying not to alert the Grimm to my presence. I climb over what remains of the wall and search for the object that had caught my attention. I see the gold glint covered by one of the collapsed tables and shove the table off of the object, only to freeze in shock. On the floor was Ember, Yang's right hand gauntlet.

" _No… She wouldn't have…_ " I try to reason, reaching down to pick up the weapon.

I nearly throw up as I realize the inside was coated in blood. I hurl it against the table I had moved and climb on top of a nearby counter.

" _Yang's fine, she couldn't have died…_ " I tell myself, but looking around at the state of Beacon, it could be the truth.

I look at where Ember had fallen and see a familiar black ribbon, " _Blake…"_

The ribbon led to a shattered rapier blade, " _Weiss…_ "

The broken shards of metal reflecting the moonlight pouring in through the collapsed ceiling. Moonlight falling on a partially charred red cloak pinned to the ground by the one and only Crescent Rose.

" _What is this? Why would my mind come up with something like this?_ "

"It didn't…" A voice echos from the entrance to the hall.

I jump at the unexpected response, and turn my attention to the figure now leaning against the wall near the door.

The figure stood tall, he looked to be around seven feet tall when slouched against the wall. The clothes he wore seemed to glow, their light the only thing allowing me to see the man's face. A scar stretched across his face, from the left side of his chin to the top of his right eyebrow. His eyes were a piercing gold color, which had they been silver, would have been a dead ringer for Ruby's.

"This isn't your mind, and neither was the vision before this one. The memory you experienced first was the only one you were supposed to experience before waking up. Like how I showed you Summer's memories before. I kept you in your unconscious state to allow me to speak with you."

"What reason do I have to speak with you?"

"To prevent this." He says, his hand sweeping around.

"What is this?"

"This is an event Remnant will come to know as The Fall. Beacon was attacked by the largest White Fang force that had ever been seen in one place. This, in addition to some happenings at the Vytal festival, caused one of the most powerful Grimm assaults in recent history."

"How do you know this? How are we here? Who are you?"

"Technically, I don't know this. You do."

"Explain."

"You don't know? I guess I did grab you from pretty early in your timeline…"

"You just said you didn't know this."

"I don't. I do understand being Ascended however, and I'm not sure if you do."

"I get a burst of aura, how does that explain this?"

He facepalms, "I grabbed you too early, shit!"

"Tell me what the fuck is going on!"

"You are not Ascended, not yet. You can use the aura ascension technique, but that is only the beginning." He says, his aura burning a bright gold.

"How could what I have only be…" I start before looking back at him, and the small sphere of light in his palm.

"Is that a…"

"Star?" He finishes, "Yes, and this is only the basics. The weakest Ascended that has ever existed managed a star around ten times this size. You haven't even scratched the surface of your powers, and you will need more than what you have now to save lives during The Fall."

"Save lives? Could I not stop it?"

"Stopping it would only bring a greater tragedy later. I can show you that if you like."

"No thank you. Tell me what I need to do."

"That's not something I can tell you. Each Ascended has reached that point on their own, whether it was through a great triumph or terrible defeat."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"So you know. Any other way and you'd find out much too late."

"This leads me back to one of my first questions, who are you?"

"You would not understand my name. The language in which it was based has long since been gone from the world. But know that I am an Ascended that came long before this world was called Remnant."

I gulp, "So are you immortal?"

"Our infinite power allows us to stay young forever, should we so choose."

"You keep saying our and we, are there more like you?"

He smirks, "Oh, there are many more, but you will meet them some other time. Follow me, we have a lot to discuss, and staying here with the Grimm outside will more than likely be detrimental to your health."

I heed his warning and follow closely behind him as he repairs the halls as he walks past.

"So is Team RWBY…"

"Save your questions until we've reached the tower. No reason to attract more Grimm to you."

"What about you?"

"Grimm don't react to my aura. Your aura is human, the thing they know they can eat. When they encounter mine, they don't know how to proceed."

"You're not human?"

"I am human, but I am a human that has lived many lifetimes. Human auras evolve every time they experience something something that changes their life. I've lived long enough to have mine evolve so many times it is unlike anything a Grimm would be accustomed to. Your aura has already evolved twice, and you seem to be in the middle of an evolution right now."

"Is that bad?"

"Most humans evolve their aura once in their life, if that, so I would say you're ahead of the curve."

We reach the base of the tower where the writhing mass of Grimm was still circling. Some start to peal away from the group, sensing my aura, but they won't approach.

"See?" He says, walking towards the door.

The Grimm don't react at first, most leaving the doorway, but one that is sitting above the door has its eyes locked on my acquaintance. The stance it had taken reminded me of a gargoyle. The Ascended opens the door, and the Grimm tenses, ready to pounce. He meets its gaze and puts one foot in the door. It responds by dropping down, talons extended. I bring my aura alight and fire a beam that splits it in half. The two pieces fall to the ground, but they don't turn to dust. The two halves form into new Gargoyles, and the other Grimm start to circle.

"I think that one might be old enough to know about your aura." I say, standing back to back with him.

"Then the Drake must have come during the Fall. I had no idea it was that bad."

"Before we fight Grimm to the death, you mind giving me something to call you?"

"Call me Caesar."

"Ok Caesar," I say, lining my fists with aura, "Let's see if your fighting style is as old as you are."

Two beowolves go for us instantly. He grabs one and crushes its head, while I send the other flying with a well placed kick. The gargoyles watch, their eyes carefully scanning over us. Another Grimm dead, another, another, until it was only the two of us and the gargoyles.

"Why have you come Ascended?" One of the Gargoyles speaks.

"Am I not entitled to that right?"

"Our master is tired of your interference in her plans. Plans which have no effect on your realm." The other speaks.

"Her plans threaten the continuation of the Ascended cycle in this realm, which threatens all other Ascended cycles. A system that I will not allow to be harmed. I would like for you to take her this message, should she continue down this path, her defeat is assured."

"She may not be able to speak to Father Time herself, but she knows her victory is assured through the defeat of the maden. Something you cannot stop, for it has been foretold for millennia."

"I may not be able to change prophecy, but that does not mean I cannot fulfil one of my own."

The two turn to look at me, their eyes rapidly switching between hues of red, "She is not one of you."

"Not yet, but she will be. Your master will bring about her awakening whether she intends to or not. Now take your master that message, and tell her I'll be waiting for the day she attempts to take my realm from me."

Leathery wings sprout from the backs of the Grimm and both take off toward the horizon, leaving Caesar and I alone.

I go to say something before he interrupts me, "I will explain as much as I can as soon as we get…"

I decide to speed up the process and grab his shoulder, blinking us to the top of Beacon tower, "You were saying?"

"I want you to look around."

I spin and come face to face with what I could only describe as a stone dragon. The creature was very clearly Grimm, but it was a stone version so massive it couldn't have been man-made.

"I had a feeling there was a reason the Grimm were congregating around the tower." He says, pressing his hand to the stone, "It's still alive under there. Its very presence is enough to draw Grimm from around the kingdom to Beacon."

"Who turned it to stone?" I ask.

He grins, "You should be able to guess that one if Ozpin or your father ever mentioned an old legend about a certain type of warrior."

I blink, "No...The silver eyed warriors? Ruby is one of the silver eyes?!"

"Like you, not yet. Her turning this Drake to stone was her awakening."

"I'm trying to understand the process here. What causes an Awakening?"

"An Awakening is an aura evolution that causes such a drastic change in a person's aura that the aura is entirely different from what it was before. Gaining new powers or enhancing one's aura capacity and durability."

"But you said that an evolution is caused by a life changing event, what was Ruby's?"

He sighs, "Are you sure you want to see?"

I nod and a scroll appears in his hands. He passes it to me as a video starts to play. It was Pyrrha facing off against some other woman. The Drake was sitting behind the two as if it was the woman's pet. The fight itself seemed pretty evenly matched, but even without being there, I knew the other woman was holding back. Pyrrha lands two solid hits, and it's clear the other woman is done playing around. Pyrrha throws her shield, but the other woman summons a black obsidian bow and fires an arrow that fazes through Pyrrha's shield. The arrow catches her in the heel, and Pyrrha falls to her knees. The woman looks down at her, eyes burning with rage. She tilts Pyrrha's head up to look at her.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." The woman says, "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

Pyrrha responds, "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes."

The woman pulls back another arrow, and I watch Ruby jump onto the roof behind the two. The arrow is loosed and pierces Pyrrha's chest, and the woman smiles as she precedes to disintegrate what remained of Pyrrha Nikos. Ruby's eyes fill with tears, but they also glow with a strange light.

"PYRRHA!" She screams as two streams of molten silver flow from her eyes.

"WHAT?!" The other woman exclaims before the video fades to black.

"No...Pyrrha…" I say, handing him back the scroll, "Where was I!?"

"You need to…"

I grab him by the front of his shirt, "Don't do this mystical prophecy bullshit with me. Where...was...I!?"

"Here. This is what would happen if you never wake up from your coma caused by your visit to Doctor Angela Ziegler's office."

"Who was that woman?"

"That I cannot tell you. Even if I could, there's little point. Changing anything before the Fall would cause more death, the only thing you can do is affect what happens after."

I let him go, "Tell me what I need to do. I will not let Pyrrha die."

"What do you want me to say? I don't know how you can save her. This," He motions to the destroyed school around us, "is the only timeline Father Time would allow me to see. It was the only way I could warn you of what was to come regardless of whether you could actually affect it or not."

"Fine then, if I've got to figure this out on my then own so be it, how do I get out of here?"

A portal, not unlike the ones I use for my blinks, opens next to what remained of the Beacon clockwork, "There. This is the final time I can give you this warning, do not interfere with The Fall before the time is right. You will know when you can, but do not try a second before."

I walk over to the portal, "Next time, ask before you pull me into some alternate timeline. Fate and I usually don't get along anyway, so I think could have changed it without knowing."

"I did not tell you to help you save Nikos, I told you to gain your trust. There will come a time where we will need to fight alongside each other as more than acquaintances."

"Against what?"

"You will come to know in time. Keep everything regarding the Fall a secret from those around you including Rose. Nothing leaves here."

"Should it become necessary for her to know, I will tell her, especially if it means the difference between Pyrrha being alive or dead."

"I hope you know when the time is right;otherwise, more will die including Rose."

"That won't happen, not while there is air in my lungs and blood flowing in my veins."

"I didn't say you wouldn't die for her first." He says, pushing me through the portal.

As I'm falling, he calls down, "Tell Mercy I send my regards."

"What?"

"Dr. Ziegler will know the name."

* * *

**Ruby POV**

"There is a cot I can bring in here for you Miss Rose." Dr. Ziegler comments as we approach the nine hour mark. It had been dark for while now, and my constant state of worry had left me feeling drained beyond belief. Dr. Ziegler didn't feel confident in letting Sierra be taken home in her current state, so she insisted in keeping her overnight. My only condition for allowing that was that I had to stay as well.

"No, I want to be close to her." I say, my voice firm.

"If you would like, I can move Sierra onto the cot with you. As a professional, I would not recommend this," She says, looking at the puppy dog eyes I was giving her, "but I will allow it if you were to insist."

I nod quickly, "Yes, I insist."

Her assistant rolls the cot into the room, and it looked barely big enough for two people to sleep on. I slide onto it, letting my head drop onto the pillow. Jade unstraps Sierra and carries her over with no effort at all. She lies Sierra down and I curl into her side pulling the blankets over us as I do so.

"Jade and I will be across the hall if you need anything." Dr. Ziegler says, turning off the lights as her and Jade leave.

I could barely make out Sierra's face in the darkness that had settled over the room. She had been crying earlier, leaving her face with small streaks where the tears had stained. Her features were pained, as if she was experiencing something unpleasant.

" _She probably is._ " I think to myself.

I press my head against her chest, soothing my worries with the sound of her soft breathing. I let my eyes close, and I fall asleep with Sierra's heartbeat as a lullaby.

I awoke, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes to find grey eyes locked with my own.

Those eyes were filled with tears once again, "You're okay…"

"Sierra…" I start before she kisses me on the lips.

She puts her hands behind my head and deepens the kiss. I put my hands around her waist. We hold the kiss for what feels like an eternity until both of us run out of air and have to break it to breathe.

She pulls back, looking ashamed, "Sorry, I had to make sure this was real, and not another...whatever I experienced right now."

I look up at her, "I never said stop."

"I'm just so glad you're okay." She says, bending down to kiss me again.

When we break apart again, "Me too. I had to watch you in a coma for nine hours."

She lets her arms drop. I move my arms around her shoulders, and she puts her face in my hair.

"I never want to do that again." She says, taking a deep breath in my hair, "I was so worried some of it had actually happened."

"What did you see?"

She lifts her head to speak, "Beacon, but it had been destroyed by Grimm. I saw Ember covered in blood, Blake's ribbon in tatters, Weiss' rapier shattered, and…" She says, choking on her tears, "Your cloak pinned to the floor by Crescent Rose. You were all gone. It felt so real, the smell of blood, the feel of Ember..."

"We're all fine. I'm just glad you're back." I tell her, wiping the tears from her face.

"She was right…" She murmurs, placing her head back in my hair, "It was all fake."

"All of them?"

"Anytime they told us we were leaving the facility, it was an SDM unit. All the murders were like that except for one and that bastard killed a little girl."

"Peterson?"

She nods, "I'm so happy." She chokes out before starting to cry again, "I'm not a murderer."

"Deep down, I think I knew somehow." I tell her, running my fingers through her hair.

"You believed when I didn't, thank you."

"I'm your girlfriend, believing in you comes with the title."

"So what time is it?"

"Too late to get a shuttle home. We can get a hotel room in town if you really don't want to stay the night."

"It doesn't matter to me, do you mind staying here?"

"I think Doctor Ziegler would prefer it if you stayed. But if you really want to get a room somewhere else, I would not be opposed." I say restlessly, hoping she would realize how uncomfortable I was.

"I don't mind either," She says, pausing for thought, "So what do I do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've spent so long trying to atone for the crimes I thought I had committed, but now all that's...gone."

"Doctor Ziegler thought that might be how you felt."

"She seems to be right about a lot of things. So what do you think that I should do?"

"Why me?"

"I trust you with my everything, so I want to know what you think I should do now."

"I think you should be you. Help anyone you can by becoming a huntress."

"That sounds perfect minus one thing…" She says.

"Which is?"

She lowers her voice to a whisper, "Asking you a certain question."

"Sierra…" I say, my breath catching in my throat.

"Will you, Ruby Rose," She says, pressing her lips to my ear, "come to the dance with me?"

I slap her, "You should have seen your face!" She says, laughing while holding a hand to her cheek.

"That's not something you joke about!"

"I promise I'll ask eventually!" She says, still giggling.

I push her unto her back, and hover above her, "Not if I ask first." I say, kissing her.

The door opens and I roll off of Sierra in a panic, "Ow." I say as I hit the floor.

"I did not need to see that when I looked on the room's camera," Dr. Ziegler says as she turns on the lights, "but it is good to see Miss Grey in good enough spirits to manage that."

Sierra and I both blush, "Sorry…" Sierra says.

"About what? Caring about seeing your girlfriend safe? I honestly would have been more concerned if there was no affection being shown. It was simply unexpected is all. As for you staying the rest of the night, I'll leave that up to you."

"Before that, I need to know something. You were Mercy weren't you? The Angel so many faunus talked about. The savior of the weak and protector of the innocent."

Her posture hardens, "How did you find out?"

"So you are Mercy?"

She sighs, "I was Mercy, but not anymore. I did what good I could back then, but it was never enough. The faunus were hated so vehemently that Mercy was considered a criminal for helping them. So, a short while after a warrant was put out for her arrest, Mercy vanished, never to be seen again. Angela Ziegler went back to being a doctor, helping people, in a slightly different way."

Sierra bows to her, "I owe you my life."

"What?!"

"You saved me, or I guess I should say, Mercy saved my mom's pregnancy. After the Mistralian…"

"Faunus Massacre. I remember that call. So many wounded, but I remember people directing me to a pregnant huntress who had been shot defending the people. She was insisting she needed to help others, but she had lost a lot of blood, enough to where I had to give her a dust infusion on the spot to keep her awake."

"The infusion you gave her kept me alive. Had she lost anymore blood, she would have almost certainly had a miscarriage. The blood she lost is why I have an indention at the base of my spine. She said my dad would never let her hear the end of it after she came home."

"I almost never let her hear the end of it. I probably would have kept in touch if that wasn't the last assignment Mercy ever took."

"Do you still have it? The suit I mean."

"Yes and no. I know exactly where it is, but I don't have the code for it's case. My fiance does."

"I would love to see…"

"No. It will never see the light of day again if I can help it."

"The design you used is something I would like to apply to my wings. I've always been worried about having nothing more than my aura covering them in a fight, and there aren't that many places I can draw inspiration from."

"I'm sorry, as I said, I don't have the code and my fiance is currently deployed."

"Vale military?"

"Jumpsuit division."

"That's dangerous work."

"She was inspired by stories she got told about a hero of the faunus that used wings…"

"You?"

"Mercy. She had no idea when we were dating. It took me a long time before I could bring myself to tell her. I was shocked when she laughed after I told her I was worried about what she would think. I had her lock the case to the suit so I wouldn't be tempted. That was the date she proposed to me." She says, running her fingers over her engagement ring

"Damn… I have to write that one down." Sierra says.

I blush heavily, and Sierra breaks into another fit of giggles.

"You remind me of when I started dating Fareeha," Dr. Ziegler chuckles, "but I'm getting nostalgic, so how are you feeling Sierra?"

* * *

**Sierra POV**

"Honestly, this is the best I've felt in a long time. I'm unsure what to do with it."

"That's up to you. Ruby already gave her idea, but if you don't like that one, come up with one of your own."

"I want to finish my training at Beacon, regardless of where life takes me from there, I want to have that experience."

"That seems like a good place to start. Let me give you a once over to make sure your episode didn't do any physical damage."

She bends down and place two fingers at my eye level, "How many fingers?"

"Two."

"Tell me if it becomes three." She says, moving her fingers to the corners of my vision.

"Nope, still two."

She presses one of her hands to both my temples, "Any headache, pressure, or lack of feeling?"

"Nope."

"Ok, you're good to go." She says, standing again.

"Is it okay for us to stay?" I ask.

"It does not matter to me. I'm staying the night, and Jade has already gone home."

"Do you know of any good hotels nearby?" I ask.

"There's a smaller one about three blocks away. The owner is ex-military and Fareeha has a room reserved for her in case she comes into town unexpectedly. I can give him a call and let him know you need a place to stay the night."

"Thank you. I owe you a favor, whenever you need it, just ask."

"I'll try to avoid taking you up on that." She laughs, "Before you go, I am going to schedule you a follow up visit in six months, so I can check in and make sure you're doing alright."

"Yes m'am."

"If you're having any problems, don't hesitate to drop by. Ruby if you think she should come see me at any point, drag her down here."

"I think she has learned her lesson about not coming to see a professional as soon as the problem starts."

I rub the back of my neck, "Yeah… I should have been better about getting treatment."

"The fact you came willingly says a lot. Most of my patients aren't so keen to do so, or to stay for the duration of the therapy. Quite a few have walked out before they finish telling me about their past."

She walks over and puts her arms around me, "These next couple weeks are going to be hard for you, but no matter what happens, know that you're stronger than it and that you have people who are always willing to talk."

I hug her back, "Thanks Dr. Z."

"You don't have to thank me. This is what I do after all."

"You hug all your patients?" I chuckle.

She lets go and ruffles my hair, "Just the ones who need it. Let me make that call really quick."

She steps out of the room, phone in hand, before closing the door behind herself.

"Are you sure you're feeling well enough to leave?" Ruby asks me, "I know you're doing this because I'm not comfortable."

"I have two problems right now, one I'm tired, two I need a shower. This bed isn't comfortable, and I seriously doubt Dr. Z has a shower here. A hotel has both of these and maybe something to eat."

Ruby rolls her eyes, "You and food. It makes me feel like like I'm going to have to compete with the cake when we get married."

I blush, "I'm not that bad am I?"

"Sometimes, but only when you're hungry. If there are any cookies, you might have to compete with them." She says, a wide smile across her face.

"Remind me to eat something before the wedding, and to make sure there are no cookies at the reception…" I joke with her.

"Oh no, if there are no cookies I'm not saying I do."

"Really? I'm not more important than cookies?"

"You're only more important by a little bit."

Dr. Zeigler opens the door, "He has Fareeha's room ready if the two of you don't mind sharing a bed."

"We don't mind." I respond.

"Ok. I wish you a speedy recovery Sierra, and I will see you back here in six months." She says, extending her hand.

I shake her hand, "Thanks again for everything Dr. Zeigler."

"You're welcome, but call me Angela. Doctor Ziegler makes me feel old."

"Alright Angela, see you in six months."

I grab Ruby's cloak from the chair and wrap it around her shoulders. Her eyelids were already starting to droop.

"Do you need me to…" I start before her legs give out from underneath her.

I catch her under the arms, "I guess that's a yes then."

"Sorry," She yawns, "I'm just…"

"Exhausted? I never would have guessed." I say, taking her into a bridal style carry.

She instantly passes out against my shoulder.

I look at Angela, "The hotel isn't that far is it?"

"Just a couple blocks. I can drive you if you think you won't make it."

"No no no, you've done enough. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to freeze along the way."

I walk down the hallway, open the door, and shiver slightly at how cold it was outside. The wind was starting to pick up, and I was worried it was about to rain.

" _Ok, endurance training don't fail me now._ "

I take off in a sprint, trying to go as fast as I can without waking Ruby. One block, two, three and there it is, a small building with a glowing sign in the front advertising open rooms. I make it through the lobby doors just as the downpour starts, rain pelting the glass doors behind me.

"I take it you are Miss Ziegler's guests?" The man behind the counter says.

"Yes." I heave, slightly out of breath from my sprint.

"Right this way." He says, taking a set of keys from the rack behind him. He starts walking down the hall towards the elevator and motions for me to follow.

"Sorry for a call so late at night." I say as he presses the elevator's button for the top floor.

"Don't worry about it. It actually reminds me of the first time I met Dr. Zeigler. She had gotten done with a late night shift at Vale Memorial, and she didn't think she was in good enough condition to drive. Fareeha brought her here because she didn't want her to see the state of her apartment and have her get stressed about it." He chuckles.

I laugh a little at that, "I'll have to hear her side of that story."

The elevator stops and he leads me over to one of the three doors on the floor.

"Here you go Miss, I hope your friend is okay." He says, unlocking and holding the door open.

"She's fine, just exhausted. As am I." I say, walking through the door frame.

"You have a good night, and the number for the front desk is on the base of the phone if you need anything." He says, closing the door behind himself

"Thank you." I call after him before walking over to the bed and dropping Ruby onto it.

I unpin Ruby's cloak, lie it on the table next to the bed, and turn out the small lamp beside the alarm clock. I creep over to the bathroom and strip down, leaving my clothes on the counter. A quick use of body wash and shampoo later, and I'm drying my hair with a towel, avoiding using the hairdryer to keep from waking Ruby. I decide against putting back on my clothes as they smelled like I had been at the gym all day. I pulled on one of the robes from inside the closet and tied the sash as tightly as I could to avoid giving Ruby a heart attack when she woke up. I walked over to the door and turned off the overhead light, while simultaneously turning on the ceiling fan. The cool air felt great after the warm water from my shower and I let myself relax, falling onto the bed next to Ruby. I don't think I could have gotten up even if I wanted to, which I really didn't in this case. I drape my normal arm over Ruby and let myself drift off to sleep. And for the first time in long time, I didn't even have a thought about nightmares.


	25. Dance With Death

_Beep Beep...Beep Beep...Beep Beep…_

"Ugh," I whine, voicing my displeasure aloud. I roll over and let my arm drop onto the snooze button for the alarm clock.

I blink the sleep from my eyes and notice Ruby wasn't in bed next to me. I look around, sweeping over the room to see if there was anything out of place. There was something new, Ruby's clothes folded neatly on the table beside the bathroom. The sound of the shower running was faint behind the closed door, and I wanted in on the fun. I undo my robe's sash and let it fall to the floor. I ease open the door, slip in, and quietly slide the door closed behind me. I inch over to the shower door, listening to Ruby humming, and my breath catches as I look at her. I hadn't noticed, but she had been letting her hair grow out, the edges now brushed her shoulders. The red highlights had begun to fade, but were still dark enough to stand out against her normal hair. The water ran over every curve, and the light glistened off of them, leaving her surrounded by a heavenly glow. I ease open the door and sneak up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. She jumps at the unexpected contact.

"Good morning beautiful." I say, my head leaning on her shoulder.

"Don't sneak up on me like that. You scared the Grimm out of me." She says, sounding embarrassed.

"You're blushing. I'll get out if you're uncomfortable."

She turns to face me, the blush I mentioned creeping over her features, "No...it's not you. I'm just not confident in how I look."

"I'll be honest, no one is perfect," I say, taking her chin in my hand, "but you're perfect to me."

She giggles, "Cheesiest line ever. So...is there any reason you decided to join me?"

"No reason unless there is something you need." I say seductively.

"I would love if you could get my back." She says, throwing a rag onto my head.

"As you wish m'lady."

I run the cloth over her neck, down her spine, and crouching to scrub her legs. I let the water rinse away the suds before I kiss my way back up to her neck.

I go to mark her before she interrupts me, "Don't. My dress won't cover that."

I freeze, "Oh no…"

"Don't worry. Weiss took care of your dress. It's back in your room."

"Did she send you a picture?" I ask.

"Nope, I'm not allowed to see it until you're wearing it. She might have sent you a picture though."

"I'll check my scroll in a minute, but first, I would like to know where I can mark you."

"Someone's feeling possessive I see."

"I think it's the panther, but I want to make sure everyone knows you're mine." I say, taking in the scent of her neck.

"Anywhere here down." She says, motioning from her breasts down.

"What about right here?" I say, letting my fingers run over the bottom side of her breasts.

"You mark where someone can see it in my dress, and I will go to the dance alone, keep that in mind."

"Ok." I say, deciding to take the safe approach. I bend down and bite her thigh, leaving a small mark just below her waist.

"Since I haven't seen the dress, I have no idea where you can…" I start before I feel her bite down on the space between my wings. I moan, the stretch of skin being one of the most sensitive I had.

"You really like that huh?" She says, running her fingers over the mark.

"Ruby…"

"You should have said something," She says, biting down right on the edge of my wing, "If I had known you were this pent up, I would have joined you last night."

She grabs my wrists and pins them to the wall, "Aren't you going to struggle? That makes this more fun." She says, kissing my neck.

"I haven't seen...this side of you...before." I say, my breath coming in short gasps.

"I've never woken up with you wearing a robe with nothing underneath before. Do you know how much of a tease that was?" She growls.

"I'm...sorry I didn't...bring a...change of clothes, I didn't...want to wear...the others to bed...they were filthy."

"Now you get to understand what happen to people that tease," She says, letting her hands drop to my breasts, "They get punished." She whispers into my ear.

She roughly grabs one and I mewl, but the pain quickly turned to a dull burn of pleasure.

"You are just a kitten behind those walls aren't you?" She says, moving her other hand to rub between my ears.

" _Stupid Faunus…"_ A memory of one of the researchers who put me in one the SDM's echoes through my mind. I jerk away from her, pin her against the wall, and put one hand around her neck, "I'm no kitten, and I'm about to show you what happens to someone who insults me." I growl.

"Sierra…" She chokes out, her eyes now filled with fear.

I wrench my arms back, "Ruby… I…" I croak.

I fling the shower door open, run out of the bathroom, and hide myself in the closet.

The lock fastened shut, I let myself curl up and cry into my knees, " _I did it again...I hurt her…_ "

Three light knocks, "Sierra. Can you unlock the door?"

"No," I sob, "I'll hurt you again."

"I will cut this door down with Crescent Rose if you don't open it, and I really don't want to have to apologize to Doctor Ziegler next time I see her."

I reach up and slide the lock open. She opens the door and I have to imagine how pathetic I must look. Naked with my wings around me as I'm curled up in the corner of a closet crying.

She throws me a robe, "Put that on, then we should talk."

"Animals don't wear clothes…"

She grimaces at that, "Do you really believe that? Do you believe that you're an animal?"

I nod, "You're an idiot." She says, sitting down in front of me, "You're not an animal, you're my Angel." She says, cupping my cheek.

"But angels aren't trained to kill people."

"A wise person once said, "no one is perfect, but you're perfect to me. _"_

I can't help but smile, "I'm never going to hear the end of that one huh?"

"Nope." She says, popping the p.

She locks eyes with me, her silver orbs showed of worry, "What made you snap at me calling you kitten?" She asks, "I've called you it before and you didn't react like that."

"I'm starting to remember more about the time I was drugged before being taken to the SDM units. The times the researchers would insult me for being a faunus when they thought I was unconscious."

She sighs, "They couldn't say it to your face?"

"If any of them had said it to my face, I would have pulled a Nora."

She giggles, "I could see that one. Now, are you okay?"

"I'm alright, but that can change really easily if I remember something. I'm just not sure what to do to move forward."

She leans over to lay her head on my shoulder, "I think you can find something to do."

"Yeah," I say, clambering to my knees and bracing myself above her, "You."

Her eyes widen as I kiss her, and she relaxes, letting herself lay flat.

"Now this is a view I will never get tired of." She says, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Promise?" I ask.

"Promise." Her lips meeting mine again.

She breaks away, "As much fun as this would be, I think we should save this for after the dance."

"But Ruby…" I groan.

"No buts."

I pout, "Come on…"

"I want to treat you to lunch like I wanted to do yesterday when you were IN A COMA. I want to have a nice date before the dance."

"I hate when you have a point…"

"I'm pretty sure you just hate when you don't get your way." She says, standing and offering me a hand.

I take it, "Fair enough." I say, folding my wings behind my back.

"You look really intimidating with your wings around your shoulders."

I wrap one over my face, "I have come for your blood." I hiss.

She laughs, "Oh no! A vampire is attacking me."

I tackle her onto the bed and start tickling her sides, "You will fall to my might."

"I surrender!" She squeals, trying to wiggle out from under me.

"No quarter!" I yell back as I pin her down.

She manages to get her one of her legs out from under me and kick out my legs. I fall face first onto the bed as she flips herself over me. I can't help but squeak as she runs her fingers over my sides and the fur lining my wings.

"Ruby!" I squeal.

"You started it, now surrender!"

"Never!" I say, flipping myself back on top.

I don't know how long we went back and forth, but I wished it would last forever. I couldn't imagine somewhere I'd rather be than here with her while she's laughing, smiling, and being the happiest Ruby she could be. The feeling was beyond intoxicating and made me feel better than Ascension ever could.

I flop down on on my back, "I think we should get ready. It's almost lunch time." I say.

"Oh no…" She replies.

I turn over and she's holding her Scroll, the message tab displaying 10 new messages...all but three of them from Yang. I gulp and check my own Scroll, there was a priority message from Weiss about my dress...and 12 messages from Yang. The first few were quite calm, but, by the twelfth, she was vividly describing how far she could stick Ember…

"She won't actually do this, will she?" I ask Ruby, slightly afraid for my life.

"I don't think so, but I wouldn't put it past her." She says, pulling on her top.

"I guess I won't worry about it then." I say.

I open Weiss' message and wait for the attached image to load. The dress looked stunning, but simple at the same time. A slim black gown that flared out at the bottom. The edge of the flare were embroidered with small red roses, roses that matched Ruby's emblem.

I type out a quick reply to the message, " _Did you get this custom made?"_

" _Yes, it just came in this morning._ " Is the instant response.

" _How much do I owe you?_ "

" _Nothing._ "

" _Weiss… Do not make me track down how much you spent on this myself._ "

" _Do not make me take it back before you can._ "

I know there is no point in arguing further, " _Thank you Weiss._ "

" _Thank you for encouraging Bella to ask me out._ "

I sigh before typing back, " _I was sure I told her not to tell you, guess I forgot."_

" _I wasn't sure that it was you who asked her, but thanks for letting me know._ "

I know she was smirking as she typed that message, " _Well played as always Weiss._ "

" _I knew someone had to have nudged her, she's too shy to have asked me on her own._ "

" _Either way, thank you again for the dress Weiss. I owe you big time._ "

" _You don't owe me anything. You've done too much for me for you to think you owe me anything. However, I'm not going to help you with the wrath of Yang Xiao Long…_ "

" _Don't worry, I've already been sent several descriptive messages about what Yang is going to do to me when Ruby and I get back._ "

" _You scared her more than anything. Neither of you answered when she called, and it wasn't even that late. She didn't know what to think."_

" _I know, but Ruby and I passed out when we got to the hotel. Yesterday was a really long day for both of us._ "

" _I'm not the one who you needs it explained. You should call her._ "

" _But she's gonna be MAD…_ "

" _Not any worse than if you were going to wait until you get back to talk to her."_

" _Fair point. I'll call now._ "

" _Good luck. Pretty sure you'll need it._ "

I dial Yang's number, look to Ruby, and take a deep breath as I press call, "Ruby can you go into the bathroom while I talk with Yang? I have a feeling this is going to be ugly."

"Sure," She says, kissing me on the cheek, "Good luck."

I sigh as the phone clicks, " _Time to face the dragon…_ "

"HOW DARE YOU RUN OFF WITH MY SISTER WITHOUT TELLING ME?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BADLY I WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE WHEN YOU GET BACK. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WERE YOU THINKING? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU..."

"Yang," I say, calmly interrupting her, "Nothing that happened yesterday was planned or my idea or anything like that. The therapy session lasted into the night, and I wanted to find somewhere Ruby would be comfortable to sleep. We're in a hotel in Vale that the doctor I saw recommended. Ruby wants to take me on a date before the dance, but we should be back early enough so if you want to punch me in the face, you can. Just so long as you don't get blood on my dress, I'm fine with whatever."

No response, "Yang?" I ask.

"You honestly made me feel guilty I was mad." She says, her voice low, "I was worried sick because I had no idea where you and my baby sis were. I care about my sister and, if she cares about you, I guess that extends to you now. I couldn't live with myself if something had happened to you both."

"Yang, I'm...glad I could hear you say that. Thank you for saying it out loud."

"At the end of the day, you make my sister happy and I'm going to make sure she stays that way."

I let my voice drop to a whisper, "Ruby's just in the other room, so I don't want to be too loud. I need a favor…"

"Which is?"

"Can you do my hair and makeup for the dance?"

She stays silent for a minute, "Any reason for me doing it?"

"You would know what Ruby likes more than the rest of us."

She hums, "I'll have to make sure Blake or Weiss can do Ruby's, but other than that, I'd be happy to."

"Thank you Yang, and I apologize for worrying you."

She sighs, "It's my fault for not trusting you and my sister to be safe."

"Do you want to talk to Ruby?"

"Sure."

"Ruby, Yang wants to talk to you."

She walks back into the room, "About?"

"Not sure."

"I want to have a quick talk with her alone if that's okay with you Sierra." Yang says.

"Alright," I say, leaning over to kiss Ruby on the cheek, "I'm going to get ready."

"I put your clothes on the counter. I washed them with mine this morning."

"Thanks."

* * *

 

**Ruby POV**

"Alright, let's hear it." I say.

"Hear what?"

"Your rant."

"Rubles," She says, sounding annoyed, "I'm not mad at you or Sierra. I was at first, but Sierra explained what happened and now I'm frustrated with how angry I got without knowing what was going on."

"It's fine Yang, just don't do anything from your messages to Sierra."

"Ugh, she let you read those?"

"Just the last two."

"Ember will be staying far away from Sierra. Xiao Long's honor."

"Okay, so what did you actually want to talk to me about?"

"Sierra wants me to do her makeup. Could you ask Weiss or Blake to do yours?"

"Why does she want you to do hers?"

"She wants to look the best she can for you. I know what you like, so it's easier to impress you if I do it."

"She's such an idiot. I honestly don't want her wearing any makeup…"

"Or anything at all." My sister interrupts.

"Damn right." I say, looking over my shoulder at the goddess dressing in the bathroom.

She sighs, "So what did the doctor say?"

"She gave Sierra the start of exposure therapy, which caused Sierra to go into one of her memory episodes. Long story short, Sierra only killed one person and they deserved it."

"What happens if I don't believe that Ruby? That honestly sounds insane especially after Sierra's confessions to all of us."

"Trust me, it sounded crazy to me as well and I'll tell you the whole story when we get back. So are you alright with doing Sierra's makeup?"

"That's fine with me."

"She better break some hearts when people find out she's with me."

"That shouldn't be hard." Yang says before pausing, "Just…don't let her pressure you into anything ok?"

"Yang…" I whine, "Sierra has not, nor will she ever, pressure me into something I'm not ready for. Trust her, a little bit at least."

She sighs, "You're asking me to trust someone with my little sister. My only little sister."

"You have to trust that I can handle my own decisions. You're not always going to be there to protect me, and I need to be able to do things without you making yourself worried sick."

"I know that, but please just let me know next time ok?"

"Again, not planned and not much I can do about answering your messages when I'm asleep Yang. I passed out the moment I got laid down in the hotel room. But in the future, whenever possible, I'll let you know what is going on."

"Thanks Sis. Now go have fun on your date."

"I will. See you tonight."

"See ya Sis."

I hang up, "Where do you want to go eat?" I yell over to her as she's brushing her hair.

"I don't really have a preference, just a lot of food, I'm starving."

"Okay then, there's a pretty nice place in town square that we could go. They give a discount for huntresses and hunters in training, so we should be able to get as much as we want."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

 

**Sierra POV**

"Do you think we should live off campus next semester?" I ask Ruby as we walk along main street.

"What brought this on?"

"Dunno. I was just thinking about the future and thought I would ask."

"We could. It would just be inconvenient considering how early some of our classes are."

"But we could get more alone time…less interruptions…" I whisper, my head laying on her shoulder.

"Maybe not next semester," She reasons, "how about the semester after? I might have said yes if we had thought about it sooner, but it's a little late to make plans for something like that."

"I'm just ready to move forward. I've lived my life up until this point regretting what I thought those bastards had me do."

"You don't have to do something like that to move forward."

"It was just the first thing that came to mind when I thought about it."

"I want you to do something for me. Stop thinking. For the rest of today, live moment to moment with me. Think you can handle that?"

"I think I can do that, as long as I have something to keep my mind off things."

"I can certainly try." She says, kissing me on the cheek.

"This is smaller than I expected." I say, noting the almost cozy appearance of the cafe.

"Yellow Brick Cafe, a Vale classic."

"I can see why." I say, trying to get in line for the door. The entire cafe was filled to the brim with people.

"It's almost always this busy, but everyone says it's more than worth the wait."

"But I'm sooooo hungry! I was hoping to get something sooner rather than later."

"Well, there are other place we could go…" Ruby responds, sounding disappointed.

I instantly regret my whining, "No, no, I'll be fine."

She sticks her tongue out at me, "Gotcha."

"Of course you would fake being upset just to get at me." I pout.

"Next time, wait before whining about how hungry you are. I am too. You think I magically got something to eat while you were out cold yesterday?"

"Fair point."

I lace my hand with hers and take a deep breath, "Not a fan of standing in a crowd this large, but I can if you're here."

"That because of the training?"

"No, for as long as I can remember, I've hated crowds. Too many people in too small of a space, just doesn't sit right with me."

We get a table outside after waiting fifteen minutes or so. The lunch rush began to die down after many of the people waiting got seated, and the servers busied themselves taking as many orders as they could.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to be quick. What would you two ladies like to drink?"

"Strawberry Sunrise for me." I say after quickly skimming the menu.

"A lemonade for me."

"I get those right out for you. Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?"

"First time here, so you'll have to give me a minute." I tell her.

She leans between the two of us, "I recommend some of our serve two specials. Great for a date." She winks.

I chuckle, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

"How does everyone know that we're on dates?" I ask Ruby after the waitress walked off.

"The look on your face. I never see you use it with anyone else. I think other people can see how you brighten up when you look at me."

I blush, "Am I really that obvious? I didn't realize I was that expressive anymore."

The waitress interrupts that train of thought, "Here you two go, one strawberry sunrise and one lemonade. What can I get you for your meal?"

"Yellow Brick Sampler okay with you?" I ask Ruby.

"Yeah, just get a little bit more than the two portion, I'm so hungry."

"Can we get a Yellow Brick Sampler for three please?"

"That is quite a bit of food, are you sure about the size?"

"Both of us slept in this morning so we haven't had anything to eat today. Besides, worst comes to worst, we'll have some leftovers."

"Alright then, that will be right out for you."

"Anymore?" Ruby asks, continuing our conversation.

"You lose a lot of expression when you're trained to kill people. My sister called it my dull face. It was the thing that separated who I am from the unfeeling ghost I had to become for those bastards. I hope you never see it."

"I doubt I ever will. You're not that person and I don't think you ever were. You did what you had to. You protected those kids, your siblings, and yourself by pretending to be what they wanted out of you. You aren't in the wrong for giving them what they wanted."

"I know that, but the doubt still lingers in my mind. There's so many things I could have done differently while we were captured and the night we escaped. Could I have done something more, something faster? What if I had gotten myself out with everyone else, not lost people I had come to know as family? The rest of the kids are still out there. April and her brother managed for themselves, but what if the others didn't? I wasn't there to protect them because I was cocky and didn't think it through." I finish before Ruby flicks my forehead hard.

"I'm pretty sure you agreed not to think for the rest of the day. I know it's hard to let go of the what ifs, but the past is the past and you're trying to move forward. You can't change what happened, so try to improve yourself with what you know now."

"I feel like I just got a lecture from Ozpin." I laugh.

"Don't make me flick you again." She pouts.

I stick my tongue out at her as the waitress brings out a tray filled with all kinds of foods on smaller plates.

"Wow, I don't even know where to begin." I say as she sets it down on the table.

"I hope you don't mind, but I rang up the check already, you can pay up front. Sorry for the inconvenience, the lunch rush caught us off guard."

"It's no problem. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." She says, speeding off to seat another set of customers.

"Shoot," I say realizing something, "She didn't have her name tag on and I forgot to ask her name so I could leave a tip."

"I'm sure it will be fine if you leave it on the table after we're finished, she'll come back around." Ruby reasons as she digs into one of the plates closer to her.

The waitress was right about the amount of food, but Ruby and I finished almost all of it with the exception of some tuna we decided to save for Blake.

I pick up the check, turn it over, and my heart stops. Scrawled on the back in neat script was a message, " _Come to Beacon's outer court yard during the final song of the dance or your siblings won't see morning. Don't tell anyone where you are going or why you're going there. We'll know if you do, we're watching. I can't wait to see you again. -E_ "

"Is something wrong?" Ruby asks.

"Nothing. I'll cover it, since we didn't get to go yesterday like you wanted."

"That's sweet of you, but I will pay for both of us next time."

"Yeah, of course." I say, trying to hide the check.

"We should probably start heading back. Yang wants to get an early start on your makeup."

"I'm fine to go whenever you are." I say, standing and offering her my hand.

We start the walk back and I can help but think about what could happen if I go through with it.

" _It has to be a trap. There is no reason to threaten my siblings otherwise. They know I will do anything to make sure they'll be ok. I doubt they've actually been watching me, but I can't take any risks. So how can I get some help without them knowing?"_

I kept batting around ideas the entire way back to Beacon, but everything had the chance to go wrong.

"It's your choice to take the risk or not." James comments as we enter Beacon's front gates.

" _You waited until now to comment?!"_

"You seemed to be reasoning with the fact that you would be walking into a trap quite well. Wasn't much I could add."

" _I can't do this knowing it's a trap right?_ "

"If you believe the possibility exists that your siblings could be killed if you don't. I don't think you get a choice."

" _I'm going to try and see if I can get someone to follow me. Maybe Yang or Weiss, but I don't know how to tell either of them without someone else understanding what I'm saying."_

"Hold on, I've got an idea…"

"Welcome back you two." Yang says as we walk in, "How did it go?"

"Better than I thought it would." I reply.

"You went into a coma." Ruby quips, sarcastically.

"I thought I would put someone else into a coma. Me being the only one far exceeded my expectations."

"So what did you find out?" Weiss asks.

"Well, I never killed an innocent person, so…"

"Wait, how? You said…"

"It was a simulation made by the scientists to train them. They used sensory deprivation tanks to make them believe their missions outside the facility were real." Ruby explains.

"That sounds insane." Blake comments.

"We thought so too, but the doctor she saw was ex-military and she confirmed that some of their equipment used for the same purpose went missing several years ago. Around the same time Sierra was first kidnapped."

"But there's no way to prove…" Weiss objects.

"There is." I interrupt, "I had a memory relapse after Dr. Ziegler made the connection. I remembered being placed in one of the pods after they administered the wrong anesthesia, one that was less effective on fauna. I remember seeing the front of the pod after they drug me out to give me the correct type. And it makes sense to a certain degree. There's no risk of injury while still maintaining the level of training they wanted."

"So, where does that leave you?" Yang asks.

"I don't know myself." I sigh, being completely honest.

"It feels so strange not to have that weight on my shoulders anymore and I just feel...relieved, free. Free to make my own choices, and my choice right now, is to stop thinking about it." I say, grinning at Ruby.

She blushes, "You little…"

The rest of us laugh as Ruby tries(and fails) to compose herself.

"So are you ready to get dolled up?" Yang asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm going to grab my dress, you had better not be here when I get back." I smirk at Ruby.

"Pyrrha is helping me get ready, see you tonight." She replies, kissing me on the cheek.

I sigh as she leaves, "Okay, let's get started."

"Go grab your dress and I'll get some makeup laid out." Yang says, running over to her vanity.

I walk over to my room and grab the dress from where it was hung on my closet door.

"Now," Yang says, motioning for me to sit as I walk back in, "I'm going to use as little makeup as possible here. Ruby likes the way you look already, so there is no reason to mess with something she likes so much."

I sit down and look over at Weiss, "J'ai besoin de votre aide pour que quelqu'un menace mes frères et soeurs si je ne les rencontre pas dans la cour extérieure pour la chanson finale de la danse. Ils regardent pour répondre, je parle du stress." I tell her in Atlesian*.

Weiss freezes momentarily, but doesn't show any expression on her face, "You're over thinking this. Don't stress out about what Ruby or anyone else is going to think. Just wing it and have fun. It's not like Ruby is going to dump you over some bad dance moves."

"Thanks Weiss."

"What did you say?" Yang asks.

I groan, "I switched to Atlesian, didn't I?"

"Yup."

"Sorry, I just told her I'm stressed out about messing this up."

"It's meant to be fun, not something to get super stressed over. Like Ice Queen said, my sis isn't going to dump you over some bad dance moves."

I smile at Yang, "Thanks for that and doing my makeup."

"Just so you know, Ruby said she wanted you to break some hearts tonight. I'm making sure that happens."

"Now go get that dress on." She says after taking a moment to finish up.

I close the bathroom door behind me, and unwrap the dress.

"Holy shit." Blake says as I come out of the bathroom.

I blush, "How do I look?"

"Like a goddess." Yang comments.

My blush deepens, "Stop…"

"Ruby will love it, trust me."

"I'm already stressed." I huff.

"Stressed or embarassed?" Weiss asked.

"Both."

"Ruby said she'll meet you on the furthest balcony from the main doors." Yang says, looking up from her scroll.

"Ok...let's do this." I say, smiling.

* * *

 

**Ruby POV**

"I'm so nervous." I say, practically shaking in my heals

"You need to stop stressing over this. It's supposed to be fun." Pyrrha says.

"But what if I mess up my makeup or step on her toes or…"

"Ruby!" Pyrrha interrupts, breaking me out of my ramble, "It's going to be fine. If Jaune can manage to go in a dress without stressing out, you will be completely fine."

"Ok. You're completely right. Where should I meet her?"

"Furthest balcony. Close enough to hear the music, but far enough away that no one should disturb you."

"Sent. I got this." I say, pumping myself up.

* * *

 

**Sierra POV**

Walking into the cafeteria was the hardest part. Seeing so many people packed into the space made me feel claustrophobic, trapped in the sea of people, but nothing could have prepared me for stepping onto that balcony. To say Ruby was jaw dropping would be an understatement. Short dress, but not too short. Similar to her normal attire, but not too similar. In heels, nothing more to say.

"Ummm…" I stammer, "You look nice."

She turns to look at me, "You too."

We look each other over awkwardly for a moment before I find my words.

"So...may I have this dance Miss Rose?"

She grins, "You may Miss Grey. I'll have you know I've been practicing."

"Oh have you now?" I say as I take her hands in mine.

"I only stepped on Yang's toes once." She giggles.

"Were you leading? I don't mind leading if you aren't comfortable."

"Yang tried to teach me to lead and that didn't go nearly as well, so you can lead for now."

"For now?"

"I'll find sometime to learn in the future and then I'll lead."

"Ok, this one is for all the couples looking for something slow." The Dj called out, a voice I recognized as Fox.

"The blind man becoming a DJ." I chuckle.

"You act like he isn't a hunter in training as well. He's pretty good at it most things he puts his mind to. Reminds me of someone else I know."

I roll my eyes, "I wonder who that song could be for. Probably Velvet and Coco."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Coco asked him to." She quips

"Or Yang asked for her and Blake." I retort.

"Or Weiss asked for her and Bella."

"Or Pyrrha for her and Jaune."

"Or I asked him for the two of us." Ruby says before blushing deep red, "I just said that one out loud didn't I?"

"Yup, and," I kiss her, "you're the best for it."

She flicks my forehead, "Shhh, the song is starting…"

" _Would you dance if I asked you to dance?_

_Would you run and never look back?_

_Would you cry if you saw me crying?_

_And would you save my soul, tonight?_

_Would you tremble if I touched your lips?_

_Would you laugh?_

_Oh please tell me this_

_Now would you die for the one you loved?_

_Hold me in your arms, tonight_

_I can be your hero, baby_

_I can kiss away the pain_

_I will stand by you forever_

_You can take my breath away._

_Would you swear_

_That you'll always be mine?_

_Or would you lie?_

_Would you run and hide?_

_Am I in too deep?_

_Have I lost my mind?_

_I don't care_

_You're here tonight_

_I can be your hero, baby_

_I can kiss away the pain_

_I will stand by you forever_

_You can take my breath away."_

I finish the song with a spin and lock eyes with her.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She says, leaning up to me.

God was that kiss electric. Every nerve ending in my body had to have fired in that moment. It felt like it went on and on, to the point that I have no idea how long the two of us held the kiss, but it was long enough for her to need to push me away.

"Sorry, I needed to breathe, you beat me in the lung capacity department."

I give her a moment to catch her breath, "Times up."

"Huh?"

I press my lips to hers again, cutting off whatever thought was to follow her objection.

I break this one, "You ready to go inside?"

"I could go for some punch, as long as Yang as been no where near it."

I open the door for her, "Are you accusing your sister of spiking the punch?"

"No, I'm accusing her of trying to mess with me by putting more sugar in it to make me hyper while I'm trying to walk in these ladystilts."

"You could have worn flats." I giggle.

"But you're in heels," She quips, "so I would have had to stand on my tiptoes just to kiss you."

"Or I could just lean down."

"And show everyone your wings?"

"That are covered by my aura?"

"You're mean."

"Maybe, but I'm also right and want my girlfriend to be comfortable when she's at a dance to relax."

"This stressed us both out. Don't deny it."

I sigh, "More than you know."

I grab a cup of punch for the two of us and take a sip of mine before handing her the other, "Sugary, but not overly so."

She downs the whole thing, "That's good."

"Imagine how much weight you would gain if you stopped using your semblance and didn't train as much."

"Hey, my diet isn't that bad. I just have a healthy appreciation for cookies."

"Just like Yang has a healthy appreciation for the human form. Nice to know it runs in the family."

"You insulted my entire family with one jab."

"Only a little bit. Your family certainly has its quirks."

"My family? You mean our family! You, me, Weiss, Blake, Yang, all of us are family."

I turn away from her as she says that, "Is something wrong with that?" She asks, noting my hesitation.

"Anyone who I've considered family hasn't exactly ended up with a happy ever after Ruby. I don't want that to spread to you guys. I love you all to much to let that happen."

"Do you really believe you're the reason all these bad things happened in your life? Sometimes stuff just happens and that's life. I don't blame myself or anyone else for my mom not being here. I wish she was so I could know if she's proud of me or if she wanted to tell me anything before...you know. If anything, I blame the Grimm and that's a reason for me to become a huntress, not as some baggage to weigh me down."

She sighs, "What I'm trying to say is, you're not the cause of all the bad things in your life and you make all of us, your girlfriend and your family, very happy."

I lean on her, "Thanks for that pep talk."

"Shh you." She says, shoving me off.

"Now," Fox starts, "Time to get out of that slowdown with a little bit of Caffeine!"

I perk up at that, "I love this song!"

"Really? It's one of Yang's favorites too."

"All of Jeff Williams' songs are the best. I remember listening to them when I was training, doing research, or when I cooked any of my mom's old recipes."

"This will be the Day is my favorite. We should go to one of Casey's concerts sometime."

"That sounds like a good plan for a date."

"Deal."

"So are we dancing?" I ask, starting to move toward the dance floor.

"I think I'll sit this one out. You go ahead."

* * *

 

**Ruby POV**

"So how's it going Ruby?" A surprisingly upbeat Jaune asks as he grabs his own cup of punch.

"It's going well. I haven't fallen out of my heels."

"I think I'm rocking the dress well enough."

"I can't believe you made that bet with Pyrrha."

"You would have made that bet too, who would have thought the Pyrrha Nikos wouldn't get asked to the dance?"

"That was the whole reason she didn't get asked. She's a role model for some of the fourth year students, let alone first years like her. No one would think she would say yes to someone as low as them, they're just hunters in training."

"I guess I can see where you're coming from. Is it bad I only see her as my teammate?"

"I know it would bother some people, but Pyrrha isn't one of those people. She appreciates that you see her for being Pyrrha, not "The Pyrrha Nikos"."

"Fair. I can see how annoying it would be to be seen as so far above everyone else when you just want to be your own person."

"You should go dance with her Miss Arc."

"Ha ha very funny. You're here with someone too you know."

"She's dancing to Caffeine, I don't think I could keep up."

"The fastest girl alive can't keep up? Didn't think I'd get that excuse."

"I can run fast, not dance fast. The next song is about to start, so go dance with your lady."

He walks off with a wave and I glance over to the entrance hall as someone leaves rather quickly.

" _Almost everything is closed down for the dance, wonder what they're up to?"_

I walk over and peer out of the entrance hall to see the figure duck into the CCT

" _And that's off limits anyways, so baddy. Do I get Sierra?"_

I look over and see her dancing, giving her full smile for the first time in ages, " _Nah, I can handle one person on my own right?_ "

* * *

 

**Sierra POV**

" _It's about time to leave."_  James comments as Shine finishes up.

"Let me tell Ruby I'm…leaving." I say, looking back to the punch bowl to find Ruby wasn't there.

"Did they…"

" _Doubt it. She did seem uncomfortable without you around, she probably went outside for some fresh air."_

"That does seem like something she would do. Are you sure I should do this?"

" _Do you have a choice?"_

"I guess I don't."

I look around and see the rest of Team RWBY dancing with their respective partners. Weiss laughing as Bella signs something to her.

" _They'll be okay if this goes wrong._ "

"You shouldn't be thinking like that, and you're wrong, Team RWBY won't be okay without their leader."

" _Ruby's…"_

"Strong? Yes. A good huntress? Certainly. Ready for her girlfriend to disappear? Not so much."

" _You're right. Time to go kick some ass._ "

I leave the cafeteria, looking around to make sure no one was following me. I could hear the last song playing in the distance as I entered the courtyard to find it empty, except for a familiar bird…

"So that's how long you've been watching me." I say with a smirk.

It cocks its head to the side, "Perceptive one aren't you?"

"Mind showing me what you actually look like?"

"I can look like whatever I want," The bird speaks as it flutters to the floor, "Like this for example." It says as it morphs into the waitress from the diner earlier.

"How did you replace that girl at her job?"

"I called as her boss and told her to take the day off. Killing her would have been easier, but she has quite a number of people that would miss her." The copycat grins.

"So are you going to tell me what you want or are you going to continue to show off?"

"I don't know, let's see…" It says as it morphs again, "How's this one?"

I grit my teeth as it morphs into a copy of Ruby, "You really want to make me mad, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." It says, smirking in a way Ruby never would.

"I'm already annoyed I don't get to have the last dance with my girlfriend, and would prefer you get to the fucking point."

It huffs, "Fine." as it morphs into someone I had never seen before, "My name is Envy and I'm here to ask if you would join my Father's organization."

"And what makes him think I will do that?"

"Because your siblings are on the line."

"What proof do I have that you're telling the truth, that you have them alive?"

"None, all things considered, but you can't take that chance now can you?"

"If I agree to go with you, will you leave Ruby and the rest of my team alone?"

"Our Father only wants you. You're the Ascended after all. That's all he wants."

"Any reason why he needs an Ascended?"

"Oh, I'm sure there is, unfortunately you don't need to know. Are you agreeing to come or not?"

I grit my teeth, "I'll go with you, but I want your word that nothing will happen to my siblings."

"My word doesn't mean all that much, I am only a homunculus after all."

" _Another homunculus?!_ "

"Follow me." Envy says, setting off toward the Emerald Forest.

"I don't think so...Weiss now!"

Weiss comes out from around the corner of the exit, bringing Myrtenaster up with her semblance already spawning her signature glyph.

"Huh?" Envy turns as a glyph forms under his feet.

Another glyph forms above his head, the spires of the Schnee logo connecting from the two to form bars around the homunculus.

"HOW DID SHE KNOW TO COME HERE! I WATCHED YOU ALL DAY AND YOU NEVER…"

"Happened to switch into a different language I knew you wouldn't know." I smirk.

"Why you little brat! Just like your sister!"

The cage tightened around Envy, "Watch it, these can cut through you like butter if I want them to."

"Also, try and morph out."

Envy has a look of concentration on his face, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. Her glyphs just happen to have the added benefit of aura nullification. I figured no matter who was coming they would be an aura user, and Weiss' glyphs would stop it. From what I know of that other homunculus, you have a philosopher's stone at your core, a stone made of compressed aura. Soul energy."

"Oooo. Finally cracked the secret? Took you much longer than your brother."

"So my brother made the stones for your father?"

"You really like connecting the dots huh?"

"If it gets me closer to figuring this whole puzzle out, then you had better believe it."

"Sierra, we kind of need to come up with a plan, I can't hold this forever."

"And the moment I get out, I'll morph and be gone in an instant."

"You're certainly a talker," I sigh, "Can you move the cage?"

"Of course, just not indefinitely."

I pull out my scroll, "Let me call Oz. See if there's anywhere to hold him."

"Hey Oz, yeah I need to know if we have an aura dampening cell on campus. Got someone I need locked up for a little while."

"Ok, base of the main tower. Got it. Be there in five minutes, have it ready, our detainee is quite slippery."

I hang up, "Let's get going."

We leave the courtyard, Envy hovering behind in his cage, "You really think holding me is going to do you any good? Once I don't come back, your siblings are dead."

"Let's say I believe you and you have my siblings. Your father killing them does him no good, as it's his only leverage against me. Then he loses the alchemist that made him philosopher's stones and the one who has been making weapons for your organization, and he gets nothing from me. Where would the sense be in that? All he loses right now is a pawn he was willing to throw away for the sake of getting what he wants."

Envy seemed to deflate at my statement, his expression going blank.

We walk in silence for a few moments before he speaks again, "If anyone is a pawn, it's that gullible mercenary Torchwick."

" _This guy is actually going to give me all the information I could ever want and I don't even have to ask for it._ "

"Sounds like you're not a fan."

"I'm not a fan of a human being given the right to boss me around. Especially after I learned what he did to his partner."

"You're talking about the one with the parasol right?"

"Her name was Neo."

"Was?"

"Caught a stray bullet a couple years back, still in a coma."

"Then who does he have with him now?"

"He calls her Neo's replacement. She was a White Fang prisoner until Torchwick got a hold of her. Brainwashed her to believe she was Neo. I don't think she remembers who she used to be."

"That's awful." Weiss comments, clearly rattled by the story.

"I might be a homunculus, but at least I'm not a monster like that guy."

"What's the story behind that anyway?"

“I was a human made into a homunculus by a philosopher’s stone. It’s the core of every homunculus, our replacement for not having a soul.”

"Why is your name Envy?"

"At the center of my philosopher's stone is a piece of my father's soul. His envy."

"One of the seven human desires. The other one I met was Gluttony right?"

They turn to look at me, "You are just like your brother."

"Thanks, I guess."

"But yes, the fat one you met is Gluttony. Lust has been dying to meet you, but father won't allow her to."

"Any reason your father's lust wants to meet me?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Because your brother turned her down. Wants to try her luck with his lesbian younger sister."

"I'll be sure to tell her I'm taken when I see her."

Goodwitch was standing at the entrance to the main tower as we walk up, "What have we here?"

"A long story, is the cell ready?"

She nods, "Follow me."

The cell wasn't as small as I thought it would be. Had I not been told that it was an aura dampening cell, I could have mistaken it for an administrative office.

"You're free to drop the cage Miss Schnee."

Weiss lets Myrtenaster drop and her knees give out. I catch her before she hits the ground, "You good?"

She gives her not dead thumbs up, "I may have...miscalculated the amount...of aura that...would use." She gets out between her huffs for air.

"Here," I say, grabbing under her legs, "I'm going to take you to rest."

Weiss goes to complain, but stops herself as she knows I'm right.

"After you do that," Goodwitch comments, "Ozpin needs to see you in his office. Sounds like one of your other teammates is in some trouble."

" _What did Yang do this time?_ "

"Tell him I'll be there in ten."

"Minutes?"

"Seconds." I say, walking just outside the door to blink to the dorm.

"Just as arrogant as her brother too." I hear Envy say just before I blink.

"That was really stupid of you." I tell her as I lie her down.

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"Don't do that again, especially not for my sake. I could have copied your semblance if you had told me." I say, grabbing a glass and filling it with some fruit juice.

"I'll be fine."

I hand her the glass and some painkillers, "The rebound is going to suck."

"I didn't burn out. I may have gotten closer than I've ever been, but a Schnee doesn't burn out."

"Drink up, I'll grab your nightgown."

She downs it and the medicine, "Thank you."

"I still owe you for leaving the dance early for me. Was Bella mad?"

"I told her I made a promise to a friend to check on them to make sure they weren't doing something stupid."

I chuckle, "Fair enough. Now she thinks I'm a dumbass."

"I never said who I promised."

"She can assume." I say, walking over and laying the gown on the edge of the bed.

I give her a light hug, "Get some rest. I'll have Blake or Yang come to check on you."

As I get up she taps my back, "Bella asked me if I wanted to go on another date sometime. I don't know whether to accept or not."

"Do you like her?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know what it's supposed to feel like. It has been a long time since I was allowed to feel anything. My father made sure of that."

"Weiss," I sit back down, "I can't tell you how to feel or what you should be feeling. It's something that is different for everyone. I know, for me, I'm just happier around Ruby and my heart races when she smiles."

"I see…"

"Try to get some rest then think about it. I have to go see who got called to Ozpin's office."

I figured it would be disrespectful to blink into the office, so I blinked outside and knocked.

"Come in Sierra."

I open the door to see Ruby standing there with her dress torn in a couple spots, several scrapes across her arms, and a burn on her cheek. Ironwood is off to the side, his usual scowl across his face.

"What happened?" I ask, looking over my girlfriend.

"Miss Rose encountered someone sneaking into the CCT and attempted to stop them on her own. She managed to stop whoever it was from doing any external damage, but we're unsure if that was their intention. That is not why I called you here. Who is the man we are currently holding without a warrant?" He asks, far too calmly for the situation.

"He is a homunculus, one sent by an organization that wants me to join them in exchange for the lives of my siblings."

Ruby gapes at me, "What?!"

"He is quite the talker, especially about a higher up of his, Roman Torchwick."

The general stands up, "You're being serious?"

"Talked about how his sidekick is a brainwashed copy of his previous partner, who is currently in a coma. He seemed quite willing to spill information."

"This is the break we need." Ironwood says, turning to Ozpin.

"You called them a…" Oz asks.

"Homunculus. A human being created from alchemy."

"You've told me that is impossible."

"Not with what lies at their core. Each one, at least from the ones I've seen, have a philosopher's stone as a substitute for their soul. It's energy is what's fueling them, and because it's soul energy, it can be affected by aura dampeners. Envy has the ability to shapeshift the stone is not suppressed. They posed as a waitress at a diner Ruby and I went to earlier to give me notice of my sibling's being killed if I didn't comply."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I took a risk. I knew they had been using some of my sister's alchemy in some of their higher-ups weapons, and that my brother had bio-alchemy knowledge that would help out someone looking to try to create a homunculus. If this "Father" guy kills them, he loses their alchemy knowledge and doesn't get anything from me."

"That's a major gamble without anything to go off of."

"I made a decision, that's done and there's no turning back now, so what are we going to do when he asks for Envy back?"

"What makes you think he will?"

"The philosopher's stone. From what Envy said, my brother made the stones and it seems like whatever ingredients are used in the stone aren't that easy to come by. It would only make sense for him to want to reclaim his investment, and try to strike another deal with me."

"I think that we should wait until the morning to do anything. It has been a long day for the both of you, and rest can help us make a better decision." Ozpin reasons.

"If you insist, but I want to ask something of the general. Can you station a guard outside of the room Envy is being held in? Our grand plan falls apart if they make a getaway."

"Consider it done. I'll have two men and two knights stationed outside."

I sigh, "Thank you. Goodnight General, Ozpin."

I close the door behind Ruby and kiss her, "What were you thinking?" I ask after we part.

"What was I thinking? What were you thinking? Hiding that note from me, I could have helped you."

"No, Envy would have just come after you. The only reason they didn't go after Weiss was because I told her in Atlesian. It was safest for me to keep you in the dark."

"I'm not some damsel in distress, waiting to be kidnapped. I'm a Huntress and I could have helped."

"Fine, next time, you'll be the first to know."

I run my hand over the burn on her cheek, "Does this hurt?"

She huffs, "Not badly, dull would be the only way I could describe it."

"What happened anyway? They were clearly an aura user."

"I saw someone go into the CCT after hours so I followed and we fought after I stopped them from doing whatever they were doing."

"You notice anything about them?"

"Her eyes. They were this off-gold color. Not quite a brown, but not like Blake's."

"That's a detail we can use, later."

"Yeah," She yawns, "Today has been a long day."

"Just so you know, you look very beautiful in your ladystilts."

"That's not going to make me wear them again. I have to give Weiss and Blake some credit, I have no idea how they fight in heels this tall."

"It makes Weiss feel less short."

"Bella is shorter than her without heels on. I think they were made for each other."

"Maybe. Let's get to bed." I say, opening the door for her.

"You gonna change?" She asks.

"No, I'm getting out of this dress and into bed. I'm exhausted."

"I'll second that, but I'm too tired to get out of my dress." She says, flopping onto the bed.

"Fine, sleeping in prom dresses it is then." I say, dropping down next to her.

"Good night." Ruby says, her breathing evening out not even a minute later.

I send a quick text to Yang, asking her to check on Weiss when they get back.

"Goodnight Rosebud."

* * *

 

 

_**Keep Moving Forward** _


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